


No Place Like Home

by maranya14



Category: Stargate - All Series, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-29
Updated: 2012-12-29
Packaged: 2017-11-22 21:09:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/614357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maranya14/pseuds/maranya14
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after the Stargate Atlantis series finale. The Atlantis team is still on Earth, grappling with political and logistical problems that may keep them from getting back to the Pegasus Galaxy. SG-1 gets involved. *Ongoing*</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Summary and Spoiler Warning: This is set a few days after the Stargate Atlantis finale. The story assumes that SG-1 and General Landry have returned to the SGC from their super-secret mission aboard the Odyssey. The Atlantis team is still on Earth, recovering from the events described in 'Enemy at the Gate.' Canon from Stargate Universe is mostly ignored.
> 
> Characters: SG-1 team, SGA team, SGC and SG-Atlantis members, others
> 
> Rating: T
> 
> Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis and their characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is a non-profit endeavour for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended.

******

"So you actually landed Atlantis in the San Francisco Bay?" Cameron Mitchell said. "Gotta admit, that's kinda... cool."

"Yeah. Wasn't me doing the piloting, though," Sheppard disclaimed, looking vaguely envious. "Beckett was in the chair."

The two men had been in a joint briefing session with General Landry and the other SG team leaders, and were walking down the hallway in Sub-Level 27, taking the opportunity to catch up.

"You were busy blowing the Wraith up, I hear. Some real pretty flying with the 302, according to Sam."

"Hey, it's what we do, right? Besides, if my team hadn't shown up, I probably wouldn't be here to talk about it," Sheppard said, shaking his head with an affectionate smirk. "Those guys - completely crazy plan, gating into the Hive ship."

"Hey, I like crazy," Mitchell said. "Crazy is SG-1's middle name."

Colonel Reynolds of SG-3, who was walking by them in the opposite direction, signalled his amusement at this with an audible snort. Or maybe he was signalling his agreement - it was equally likely, given some of the things he had known SG-1 to do.

Sheppard and Mitchell shared a grin.

"So you moved Atlantis to the Naval Base in San Diego?"

"Yeah, I got to fly her up that time. At least the ZPMs have enough juice left to keep the cloak engaged." He paused as he spotted two men exiting the briefing room ahead of them.

"Hey Rodney, Radek."

"Doctors," Mitchell said, with a polite nod, which was returned by Zelenka.

"Oh, hi. John, Mitchell," McKay acknowledged, with a distracted air. "Have you seen Sam? I think I may have an idea about the ZedPM problem, and Radek wants to run some numbers by her."

"ZPM problem?" Mitchell repeated, enquiringly.

McKay threw up his hands and scowled. "Well, when the genius here decided to pull his stunt-"

"Planet-saving stunt," Zelenka interjected, crossing his arms. "Based on your idea, I should point out."

"OK, his planet-saving stunt, with wormhole drive, it seriously depleted our ZedPMs - all three of them. They were already drained significantly when Atlantis made it to Earth, and then there was the battle on top of that, plus the stress of keeping the shields intact through atmospheric re-entry, not to mention... well, anyway, long story short, we don't have enough power to fly the ship back to the Pegasus Galaxy!"

"Assuming the IOA would let us take her back, even if we had the power," Sheppard said, with a saturnine smile.

"What? You don't think they'd try to keep Atlantis here!" McKay said, his voice rising along with his indignation.

"Well, we haven't managed to salvage the Antarctic Weapons Platform yet," Mitchell said. "They're still excavating at Area 51. There's going to be some people arguing that we need to be concerned about Earth's defences against any future extra-planetary threats."

"That's absurd! Earth is plenty well-defended - counting the General Hammond, we have at least 4 spaceships now, with the Asgard upgrades; plus the Russians and their 302 program, not to mention the Chinese and the new ship they're building. I mean, what about Pegasus? The Wraith are still out there! We can't just abandon our allies - there are millions of human lives at stake. "

"Whoa, McKay," Mitchell raised his hands in a pacific gesture. "I'm with you - but not everyone in the IOA or the Pentagon is going to see it that way. I'm just saying."

"Woolsey's working on it," Sheppard said.

None of the other men seemed to think this a particular reason for optimism.

"Pretty sure General O'Neill's got a plan," he offered next. "He was asking about the beaches on M35-117. He said something about a party, with umbrella drinks. And cake."

"He mentioned cake? That's a good sign," Mitchell said, nodding sagely.

"Well, regardless, the issue of returning to Pegasus is moot, until we solve our energy problem," Zelenka pointed out.

"True. Back to the business at hand - do you know where Sam is?" Rodney asked. "She's not off supervising the repairs at Area 51 or something, is she?"

"No, I dropped her and Vala off at Sub-Level 19 after lunch - they were going to meet Bill Lee in one of the computational labs."

"Oh, good. That's good. Later!" McKay said over his shoulder, setting off toward the elevators at a brisk pace. "Radek, your idea about applying continuum mechanics to the problem is totally ridiculous. For one thing..."

Sheppard watched the two arguing scientists retreat, and turned to Mitchell with a resigned shrug. "Guess the geniuses will figure something out."

"Yeah. Listen, I just got done with my reports. You wanna go catch a game or something?"

"Speaking of, Ronon said something about sparring with Teal'c."

"Really? You know, as team leaders, we should go keep an eye on things. Evaluate their relative combat proficiency." Mitchell's air of sober responsibility was belied by the glint in his eye.

"Yeah. Plus we should make sure they don't totally trash the gym," Sheppard said.

"Let's pick Jackson up on the way. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't want to miss this."

"Yeah, Teyla too. Lorne's probably selling tickets already. Last time this happened, they were at it for over two hours till Sam broke it up."

"Nice! If I know Siler, he's taking bets. If we hurry, we might get in on the action. Shall we, Colonel?"

"After you, Colonel."

*********

McKay and Zelenka discovered Samantha Carter in a lab, as Mitchell had said, in the middle of a discussion with Bill Lee. They were both looking at what appeared to be results of a simulation on one of the large LCD screens at the rear of the room. Vala Mal Doran was seated in one of the chairs next to them, her feet propped up on a table, apparently ignoring the discussion in favour of the contents of a glossy magazine that was occupying her attention.

McKay walked in waving his tablet excitedly and talking nineteen to the dozen.

"Sam! I know you can talk sense into this Czech idiot - I've figured out a way to potentially solve the energy equilibrium problem with that zero point energy generation model I told you about. Oh, hey, Bill. Could you scootch over a little bit? I just want to..." He pushed his way to one of the terminals, placed his tablet next to it, and tapped a few keys in rapid sucession. The display on the terminals changed to show a split screen view of a set of equations and a graphic resembling a series of nested inverted parabolas.

Zelenka rolled his eyes and shrugged at the other scientists. Bill Lee looked bemused.

"Hi Rodney. It's nice to see you too. No, we weren't really working on anything too important. Of course, we'd be thrilled to hear about your latest idea," Sam said, smiling a little too brightly.

Vala made a scoffing noise from behind her magazine.

"Oh, I'm sorry to interrupt your pedestrian little hyper-drive efficiency simulations," Rodney retorted. "But this is actually important. Not to mention way more interesting and original."

"Hey!" Dr. Lee said, looking a bit hurt.

"Take a look at this, OK? Radek doesn't understand these calculations, so he's no help."

"I understand the calculations perfectly well, Rodney. That is not the problem. The problem is that you are insane and your idea is completely impracticable."

"Oh, shush. Let her look."

Sam looked intrigued, and leaned over Mckay's tablets to bring up a new set of graphics and equations on the large screen. Bill Lee frowned at the display, and scratched his chin thoughtfully. Vala peered over the magazine at the LCD.

"Wow, Mckay, this is interesting! The quantum fluctuations in output are magnified with each cycle, but the entropy within the system increases at a dramatically slower rate: plus, the initial boost required to start the cycle is much lower than we thought was needed. This model is way more energy efficient than your earlier one, trying to draw energy from parallel universes," Sam said.

"Exactly! So if we can duplicate this in a live experiment, we should be able to generate at least 60% percent of the power that one of the Ancient ZedPMs gives us. We'd be sacrificing some extra energy to maintain a stable boundary, but..."

"But Zelenka's right - it's impracticable. There's still the problem of fabricating a container that would be able to store and release the energy at a differential rate for the input and output halves of the cycle," Vala said, pursing her lips thoughtfully.

"Yes, but if we could... wait, what?" McKay exclaimed, with an incredulous double take, first at Vala and then at the cover of the issue of Cosmopolitan that was partially obscuring her face. "You understood that?"

Vala lowered her magazine and raised an ironic eyebrow. She got that from Teal'c, McKay decided.

"Let's see: in theory, zero point energy might be infinite, but even the Ancients couldn't violate the laws of conservation: there is no free, unlimited, zero point energy buffet. What the ZPMs do is control the rate of energy flow, allowing us to extract the zero point energy from a bounded thermodynamic system, with the ZPM slowing down - but not stopping - the rate of change to the system; the greater the amounts of energy we drain, the faster the rate of change, until eventually, the system is irrevocably altered and there is no longer a net positive energy output. Is that a fair summary?"

When McKay remained speechless, doing a fair impression of a goldfish, she continued.

"In the process, the container crystal is also irreversibly degraded, resulting in the ZPM's depletion. As I was saying, Rodney, that still leaves us with the question of how to create a container which behaves in the unique way the Ancient's crystals do. Unless of course you've thought of some way to bypass the fabrication problem? No? I didn't think so."

Having silenced her audience with a display of Daniel Jackson-level sarcasm combined with Sam Carter-patented tech exposition, Vala raised her magazine and went back to reading it with every evidence of absorbed interest.

McKay spluttered incoherently for a moment. Then he spun around and pointed at the other three scientists in the room. "Oh, I get it! Very funny. You guys decided to have laugh at my expense, and..."

Zelenka shook his head, looking amused. Sam eyed him with exasperation. "Rodney. Did you read the the sign on the lab door?"

McKay glanced back, puzzled, at the door he had left ajar behind him. 'Computational Solid Mechanics Lab', he read. Below, in slightly smaller print, the sign went on, 'Senior Supervisor: Dr. William Lee. Projects Supervisor: Dr. Vala Mal Doran.'

McKay's eyes widened even more. "Since when did Vala..."

"Among other things," Sam said with some asperity, "Vala earned her doctorate in Mechanical Engineering last year. She already had a head start, with her expertise in applied ship design and gate technologies."

"Well, she's been working with my team since she officially joined the SGC three years ago," Bill Lee put in, with a deprecatory shrug.

Vala put her magazine down on the table with a long-suffering sigh.

"But the weasel men at the IOA wouldn't let me have any fun or spend actual money on my projects until I had the 'credentials' to justify the research budget," Vala said, using her fingers to punctuate, and wrinkling her nose in remembered disgust. Oh, she got that air quotes thing from Mitchell, McKay thought.

"Oh. Hmm. Yeah, I can see the IOA being like that," Rodney conceded. "So, you earned a doctorate in the three years you've been on Earth? Huh. That's actually... pretty impressive," he said.

"Closer to one and a half years," Bill Lee said, with an air of fond pride. "CalTech," he supplied, in response to McKay's unasked question.

Zelenka whistled softly. "That is impressive," he said. "What was your thesis subject?"

Vala preened and gave him a pleased smile. "Stress-induced Thermomechanical Response and Damage Evolution of Polycrystalline and Nanocrystalline Materials," she said. "My work was originally based on Goa'uld technology, but obviously there are applications in..."

"... Ancient tech, specifically ZedPM crystals," McKay concluded, looking simultaneously enlightened and stunned. "Umm, sorry! I- I didn't mean to imply earlier, that is, I didn't realise that..." he spluttered to an uncomfortable halt.

"That beneath this seductively attractive yet demure exterior, lurks a brilliant and original mind?" Vala asked, revealing most of her teeth in a predatory grin. "Never mind, Rodney. I'm used to it."

*******


	2. Chapter 2

It should have been a familiar homecoming for at least half the party beaming into the Atlantis Gate Room. But from their expressions, it wasn't quite what they had been expecting.

"Holy Hannah!" Colonel Samantha Carter exclaimed softly, staring around her. The rest of the company seemed equally startled.

Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, having contemplated his surroundings with a jaundiced eye, abruptly fixed his accusing gaze on a suitable scapegoat.

"Chuck!"

The Control Room technician started nervously. "Er, yessir?"

"What the hell is all this?"

"Orders from SGC high command, sir. They wanted to have a flag from every country represented in the Atlantis expedition."

"I didn't mean that, Chuck," Sheppard said, with a irritated but dismissive gesture at the dozen or so flags suspended from the ceiling of the massive Gate Room. "The flags are fine. What's with all the bunting?"

"Er, that was Mr. Woolsey's idea, sir. He said he thought it would add a festive touch, sir."

"I don't like it," Ronon rumbled, scowling at at the shiny multi-coloured fabrics draped all around the area.

"What, were the idiots in charge of this colour-blind? I think I'm going to be sick from the visual overload!" Rodney snapped. Dr. Keller clutched his arm and nodded emphatically.

"It is quite displeasing to the eye," Teyla agreed.

"The whole effect is rather like a Senctonese bordello, actually. Do you suppose that was intentional?" Vala asked, looking fascinated but dubious.

"It is highly unlikely that the parties concerned have any idea what a Senctonese bordello is, let alone what one looks like, Vala Mal Doran," Teal'c said. "Moreover, I cannot conceive of any reason why the SGC would wish the Atlantis Gate Room to resemble one." It was amazing how clearly he managed to convey his aversion to the decor with so little change in his facial expression.

"Are those balloons? It's hard to tell, with the light reflecting off that glittery stuff," Daniel Jackson said incredulously. He looked torn between distaste and disbelief.

Sheppard's scowl deepened. He tugged at the collar of his dress uniform. Ronon was fingering his gun ominously.

"Man, oh man." Mitchell winced, closed one eye to squint at the decorations, and then put his hand up to shade both of them. "Just wait till the General..."

There was a flash of light as the next party was beamed in.

"Hey, kids!" The unmistakable tones of Jack O'Neill rang through the room. "What's... Gah!" He waved his hand frantically as if trying to erase the sight before him.

Beside him, Richard Woolsey looked around in dawning horror. General Landry maintained a commendable poker face, under the circumstances. His daughter wasn't nearly as successful - she actually flinched. Beside her, Carson Beckett was clearly audible, unleashing a spate of profanity that expressed his own feelings, as well as those of the Marines behind him (conscious of the presence of the top brass and therefore forced to censor themselves to an uncomfortable degree. Several of them were turning interesting colours - ranging from red to puce - with the effort).

"Sheppard?" O'Neill enquired, with a snap in his voice that made Mitchell wince in sympathy.

"It wasn't me, sir," the Atlantis CO said promptly. "I just got here."

The general turned around slowly. "Richard?" he drawled, in a deceptively mild tone. This time Sam and Daniel winced.

Woolsey looked completely non-plussed. "I didn't - some of the people at the IOA suggested - I thought it was a nice idea - I imagined something like the way they usually do up the SGC Gateroom - I wasn't expecting, well - this!"

"Really? So, who exactly was responsible for... this?" O'Neill made a vague gesture that somehow managed to convey his general displeasure with the situation. "And please tell me that whoever they were, they weren't also in charge of the buffet?" His gaze followed Sheppard's glare to land on Chuck, who flinched. "For crying out loud! Make no mistake, people- this is a snafu of epic proportions!"

The poor technician looked nervously between O'Neill, Sheppard and Woolsey and stammered, "It was a committee from the IOA, sir. And they had a contingent from the Naval Base helping them. They wouldn't let us do anything. We only had a skeleton crew, and I mean, she insisted - that lady, you know, the one who came to Atlantis before, when we were still in Pegasus?"

"Shen Xiaoyi!" Woolsey and O'Neill said together.

The loud grinding sound in the background turned out to be caused by Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard's teeth, as he contemplated the fact that a crowd of U.S. Navy types had helped to desecrate his ship. Damn squids! The other Air Force and Marine personnel were looking none too happy, either. Lorne was wearing the same distant yearning look as Ronon, suggesting that he would really be far happier shooting something, or preferably someone, right then.

"Ah." O'Neill said, suddenly calm. "I'm guessing there's no cake, then."

"Er, no sir." Chuck decided that mentioning there was flan instead would be like waving a red rag at a bull. Or adding fuel to a raging forest fire. Or something else equally foolhardy.

"Well, there's no help for it, kids. We'll have to clean this up."

"Clean it up? There's less than an hour to go until everyone arrives for the ceremony!" Woolsey protested, looking upset. "There isn't time! I was so hoping that this would be a special occasion for the whole expedition."

"Calm down, Richard. You've faced the Wraith, for Chrissakes - what's a little bunting? Besides."

"Besides, what?"

"Besides, I have an idea." Turning to Chuck, he flicked his hand. "Get rid of this - stuff."

"Sir?"

"Get. Rid. Of. It." Jack repeated. "Keep the flags. Lose all the rest of it - the buntings, the streamers, the glitter - wait, are those balloons? Definitely lose the balloons."

"Umm, how, sir?"

O'Neill sighed. "Have Odyssey beam it off the ship. Space it all. I don't care. I've got a much bigger problem to deal with." He turned to the other General in the room. "Hank, you got any ideas on how to save the buffet?"

"Could call Walter," Landry said. "He has sources."

"Good idea. Sheppard, call Walter. That's a plan." He stabbed his index finger triumphantly into the air. "See, Richard? The day is saved."

Woolsey smiled weakly.

"OK, then." O'Neill dusted his hands off airily. "Hey Hank, now that we've saved the day, you want a tour?"

"Definitely. This is my first time on Atlantis, after all."

"Right. Follow me." After a single step, he looked blank, and stopped dead in his tracks.

"That way, sir," Carter whispered loudly, pointing at the stairs leading to the Operations Center.

"I knew that." O'Neill grinned and started for the stairs, then paused. "You want to lead the way, Carter? Point out some of the finer nuances that I might miss?"

Sam suppressed a smile and nodded. The rest of SG-1 looked around, apparently had one of their team telepathy moments where they figured the Atlantis group would prefer to handle this by themselves, and unanimously decided to tag along with the tour. All of them but Teal'c started making noises about how they'd never gotten a chance to see much of the city on their earlier visits. Mitchell glanced at Jackson's expression, rolled his eyes, and muttered, "Daniel Disneyland", which made Vala giggle, and Teal'c incline his head gravely. "Indeed."

O'Neill turned around at the top of the stairs and pointed at the Atlantis contingent. "By the time we get back, I expect you will have this situation under control. Am I right?"

"You're right, sir," Sheppard gritted out between his teeth.

"I better be, kids." The General turned his back and started down the corridor in SG-1's wake. "By the way, Richard," and they could see his index finger circling ominously, "You should let people know that I said heads will roll for this! And I mean..."

Woolsey grabbed Chuck's arm as the technician climbed towards the control consoles. "Don't beam it all into space, Chuck. I have a much better idea."

"Oh, me too," Sheppard said, with a cheerfully homicidal smile.

*****

The commendation ceremony for the Atlantis crew went off beautifully. The Gate Room now sported, in addition to the national flags hanging down from the ceiling, fluttering draperies of pale blue and aquamarine fabric that complemented the spare beauty of the Lantean architecture perfectly. There were a lot of 'oohs' and 'aahs' of admiration, except from certain members of the IOA who appeared at first puzzled, and then frustrated. In the case of Shen Xiaoyi, the frustration quickly changed to acute nervous tension, when she realised that every time she met General Jack O'Neill's eyes, he made it a point to smile beatifically at her; and further, every time Richard Woolsey looked in her direction, he was wearing what could only be described as an expression of smug satisfaction. After a point, she started staring fixedly at her shoes.

General O'Neill and Woolsey made speeches, followed by James Coolidge from the IOA. There were a number of commendations and medals for individual members of the team. There was a conspicuous amount of whistling and cheering when Ronon Dex received the Congressional Gold Medal. The French IOA delegate announced that the distinction of the Légion d'honneur 'for services to humanity' was being conferred on Richard Woolsey, John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, Evan Lorne, Radek Zelenka, and Carson Beckett. Rodney Mckay received the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian honour. And finally, the promotions of John Sheppard and Evan Lorne to the ranks of Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel respectively were announced. Both men also received the Air Force Cross.

"Phew! Glad that's done," Sheppard said, slapping Ronon's back when all the formalities were concluded. "Want to check out the buffet?"

"Way ahead of you," Rodney said, sniffing like a hunting dog. "Whoa! Will you look at that!"

It was a pretty impressive spread. Five different cuisines, and a truly generous variety of desserts. No flan, though.

"We owe Walter Harriman big time for this," Lorne sighed. "And believe me, he's going to collect."

*****

By sunset, all of the IOA and external guests had been escorted off the ship. But most of the Stargate program personnel had spread themselves out and were enjoying what had relaxed into an informal party.

"In point of fact, General, my people weave a kind of plant fibre to make those. They are actually what I have heard described as 'mosquito nets' by the Marines," Teyla was explaining to Landry. "The fine weave allows air to pass through, while keeping out small stinging insects in the summer season."

"Well, now, isn't that something. Mosquito nets!" Landry chuckled, looking back at the flimsy blue-green draperies fluttering above them.

A little way off, there was an extremely involved argument in progress.

"I must disagree, Doctor McKay," Teal'c said. "It is in fact Colonel Mitchell who most closely resembles Captain Kirk."

"I'll bet you anything he hasn't gotten cosy with nearly as many alien women as John has," Rodney contended indignantly. "Sam, back me up here!"

Sam looked thoughtful, but didn't say anything.

"There was the time that Colonel Mitchell was forced to engage in ritual combat to the death with a man he considered a friend, and only escaped when he was injected with a drug that simulated his death, while his opponent pretended to strangle him with a weapon closely resembling an Ahn-Woon."

Rodney looked reluctantly impressed. "Yes, I'll give you that one. But John's still way ahead on the hot alien chicks thing." Vala, Jennifer and Sam pelted him with popcorn. "OK, OK, I apologise for using the phrase hot alien chicks. Doesn't make it less true, though," he mumbled.

"I will concede that Colonel Sheppard does seem to have a superior number of extra-planetary liaisons on his record. However, given the distance of your base of operations from Earth, and the relatively small female population of the Atlantis expedition, there is a far higher probability that Colonel Sheppard will encounter more females from outside his home world than the reverse."

Rodney looked mulish. "They go on about the same number of missions to alien planets. So your argument isn't really germane."

"He's right, Muscles. You do have to count the earth women they've dated separately," Vala said.

"Be that as it may, Colonel Mitchell scores over Colonel Sheppard on many other criteria," Teal'c went on. "Such as for instance, the number of times he has lost his shirt in the midst of a conflict."

"Not to mention his pants," Sam put in, laughing.

"Hey, I think they're talking about us," Mitchell said, nudging Sheppard, who had stretched his legs out and dozed off.

"Who is?" Sheppard said, blinking one eye open. Mitchell nodded over at the table where Teal'c and Rodney were sitting with Sam, Vala, and Jennifer Keller. All five turned to look at the two colonels, and there was a burst of laughter.

"You're right, they totally are." He closed his eyes again, deciding he really didn't want to know.

Mitchell glanced over at a table some distance behind them, where a much quieter discussion was taking place.

"So the Satedan language has two alphabets? One is a set of logograms, and the other is a set of phonetic symbols?" Daniel looked intrigued.

"Yeah. This is how you write, 'Greetings' in Old Hand." Ronon sketched a single symbol on the table with his finger. "And you'd use these six symbols to spell it out in sounds in New Hand," he went on, demonstrating. Daniel watched the movements intently.

"Most people just use New Hand these days. I mean, you'd have to know at least a thousand symbols in Old Hand before you could even begin to communicate anything. New Hand's just easier. 30 symbols, they all have sounds, you string 'em together, you can write anything you want."

Ronon looked down and took another swig of his drink. "It makes me sad, though. I don't know of anyone else who uses it, other than me - maybe in fifty years there won't be anyone anywhere who knows Satedan Old Hand. It's just one more thing the Wraith took from my people."

There was a long pause until Daniel broke the silence. "I lived on a planet called Abydos for a year. When I first went there, all the humans on the planet were slaves under the control of a Goa'uld named Ra. For three thousand years, he'd forbidden all knowledge of writing, on pain of death. Their ancestors came from Earth, they used a script that was like your Old Hand, logograms. I'd been studying it for years, but no one on Earth remembered how to speak the language." Daniel stopped. His expression was distant, remembering. Ronon sensed that this was a difficult memory.

"So why'd you go to Abydos?"

"It was when we figured out how to use our Stargate again. Our gate had been buried for thousands of years, and the only address we had was for Abydos. When we got there, we couldn't find the seventh symbol to dial back home. Which was kind of a shock, and not in a pleasant way! We'd also forgotten about the Goa'uld, so that was a shock, too. Anyway, when we got there, we found that despite Ra's efforts, there were still people who remembered the writing - the script that their ancestors used. They'd kept it secret, just a handful of them, generation after generation, risking their lives to keep that bit of their history alive. That was what helped us ultimately find a way to dial back to Earth. I guess that just reinforced something I've always believed. If you can pass on what you know to even one more person, it's worth it. No knowledge is ever wasted." His voice was still low and calm, but there was an intensity there that spoke of deep, heartfelt belief.

"You should teach people this Satedan Old Hand of yours. I'd be interested to learn it, actually, and I'm pretty sure quite a few of my colleagues would jump at the chance." He smiled, but Ronon noticed his eyes were still haunted.

"What happened? To the people on Abydos?"

Daniel drew a deep breath and exhaled very slowly. "They're gone, now. All of them."

"This Ra - he killed them?"

"No, no. Jack and I, we killed him. But there was another Goa'uld, years later. He destroyed the planet. But the people didn't die, actually, they, uh, ascended."

"Like the Ancestors in this Galaxy. The Ancients."

"Yes, it was an Ancient Being named Oma Desala who helped them to ascend. So it wasn't, it wasn't..." he trailed off.

Ronon studied his face thoughtfully. "But you still miss them. Your friends from Abydos," he said. It wasn't a question.

"Yes. Yes, I do. And I remember them, and I remember their stories, and I remember their writing. This is how you'd write 'greetings' in their script." Daniel sketched out two symbols on the tabletop, using his fingertip. He looked up at Ronon and smiled. It seemed less forced, as if the act had eased the memories a little.

Ronon thought that perhaps the other man was right. It was worth considering. So he smiled back and clapped Daniel on the shoulder. "Yeah. I see."

Daniel leaned over the table and traced out the symbol Ronon had used before. "So, this is 'greetings'?"

Ronon stared at him for a second. "No, you used the down stroke on the wrong side."

"Oh." Daniel pursed his lips. "I'm guessing that changes the meaning?"

"Yeah, it does. What you just wrote, that means 'f*ck you', basically," Ronon managed, straight-faced.

There was a brief silence before both men burst into laughter.

"Hey, Jackson!" Mitchell called. "Could use some help over here!"

Both Daniel and Ronon picked up their drinks and walked over to where Sheppard and Mitchell were sprawled on the floor. The latter looked up seriously at both of them and said, "Batman and Wolverine. In a fight. Who'd win?"

Ronon and Daniel looked at each other, and then back at Mitchell.

"Batman," Daniel said, at the same time that Ronon said, "Wolverine".

"There you go. You heard my wingman," Mitchell said to Sheppard with a flourish of his hand in Daniel's direction.

"Yeah, but Ronon said Wolverine, so it's two against two."

"Wolverine would tear Batman to pieces," Ronon said.

"That's what I said!" Sheppard exclaimed, sitting up and punching the Satedan lightly in the leg.

"Oh, I don't think so. Brains and martial arts training against pure brawn? Batman would outmaneuver Wolverine in about five minutes," Daniel stated, with conviction.

The sounds of the party carried faintly up to the level above, where Jack O'Neill leaned on the balcony and frowned into the distance. Beside him, Richard Woolsey fidgeted, a little ill at ease.

"Good to know the kids are all right. For today. Tomorrow, they're all going to be back at the SGC, and I'm back in Washington. So, Richard, what's your plan for Atlantis?"

"Honestly, I'm at a loss, Jack. With the ZPMs as they are, we can't go back. But I feel quite strongly, and I think my team would agree, that we should take Atlantis back."

"You know the IOA won't support you."

"I know. But as long as the Wraith are at large, even if Pegasus seems so far away, I believe they pose a serious threat. Now that they know of Earth, the richest feeding ground they've ever heard of, they'll never stop trying to come here. Sooner or later, they'll find a way. And without us, there's no one in Pegasus capable of taking the fight to them. We have to find a way to neutralise them for good."

"Yeah. You know, I agree with you." Jack paused. "Man, about five years ago, I don't think I could even have imagined saying that to you."

Woolsey gave him an ironic look.

"Yes, yes, I know," Jack waved his hand. "You've saved the world, learned some things since then, bygones. Let's not dwell. But still - you don't have the ZPMs to take Atlantis back."

"Right. Doctors Mckay and Zelenka are working to solve the problem, but I honestly don't know when, if ever, they'll succeed. So - what do you suggest?"

"I may have some ideas about the IOA. As for the ZPMs - that's where SG-1 comes in."

*****

Two days later, the Military Police were called in to investigate the case of ten missing seamen from the Naval Base at San Diego. After a day-long search, the MPs found all ten locked into an empty shipping container in the naval dry docks. They had been stripped to their underwear, and their foreheads had been marked with an unknown symbol, using a blue vegetable-based dye, which according to the doctor who examined them, was likely to fade after a week or so of scrubbing. They seemed otherwise unharmed. Their captors had left them plenty of food and water, and the seamen seemed to have suffered nothing other than their 48 hour confinement. All ten men claimed to have seen nothing of their captors. In fact, they all appeared curiously reluctant to discuss the circumstances surrounding their abduction and subsequent imprisonment. Eventually, the MPs dropped the investigation, due to lack of evidence. Other than a recently developed phobia about bunting, and the occasional nightmare about balloons and glitter, the seamen went on to lead reasonably normal lives.

At about the same time that the seamen were discovered, Shen Xiaoyi, the Chinese delegate to the International Oversight Advisory, decided to request indefinite leave from her duties, for undisclosed personal reasons.


	3. Chapter 3

The SGC commissary was pretty full when Cameron Mitchell got in for breakfast. Looking around for a place to sit, he spotted Vala waving at him. She was sitting at a corner table with Daniel, Teyla, Rodney and Sheppard. As he walked over with his tray, Rodney got up.

"Morning, McKay," Mitchell said.

"I need to be in the lab," Rodney said, passing Mitchell with a distracted hand gesture to acknowledge the greeting.

"Don't talk with your mouth full!" Sheppard called after him. McKay ignored him completely, hurrying out of the room, nose already buried in his PDA.

Mitchell sat down at the space Rodney had just vacated. "Hey, guys."

"Allow me to remove that, Colonel Mitchell," Teyla said, with a grimace of apology, picking up Rodney's empty tray and placing it on top of her own.

"Thanks. Please, call me Cameron," he said, with a smile. He looked over at Jackson, who appeared to be his early morning self - looking sleepy and nursing an enormous cup of coffee.

"Mornin', sunshine," Mitchell said, grinning. "So, you made any progress with your translations?"

"Yes, actually," Daniel said, "I think we may have cracked the code. Having live access to the information in the Atlantis database was useful. It's going much quicker than I expected."

"Really? We talking solid leads here, by any chance?" The SG-1 leader looked hopeful.

"There's a good chance we'll have something soon," Daniel said, fending off Vala's attempt to steal one of his muffins.

"Is this about the data retrieved from that research lab you discovered?" Sheppard asked, referring to the joint briefing he'd participated in with the other SG team leaders the previous week.

One of the successes from SG-1's mission aboard the Odyssey had been uncovering the remains of a joint Asgard-Ancient research facility in the Ida galaxy. Doctor Jackson had originally found a reference to the location in the Asgard core database that had been downloaded to the Odyssey before the destruction of Orilla.

"Yes, it's been a fascinating exercise, trying to decrypt the information. Apparently, the Asgards and Ancients were surprised by a Replicator attack and forced to abandon the facility. They did program a last minute self destruct to wipe out all their records, but they also had a fail-safe in case anything went wrong; they encrypted all their data using both Asgard and Ancient codes. As it turned out, the self destruct did wipe out all the physical research, but an underground archival facility was left partially intact. The Replicators didn't find the archives, from what we can tell, and we managed to recover several data storage crystals," Daniel explained.

"These Asgard, they were of the same race as the people who abducted Rodney and yourself on your visit to Atlantis last year, were they not?" Teyla asked.

"Well, yes and no: they were of the same species, certainly," Daniel said. "We've barely scratched the surface of the information in the Asgard core, but from what we've pieced together, it seems the Asgard we encountered in the Pegasus Galaxy were a break-away group who were exiled from the mainstream because of political and ethical differences. One of the things they apparently disagreed on was the issue of using live human subjects in their experiments."

"The guys we knew - much nicer bunch," Mitchell said. "The worst you could say, some of them could be kinda... cranky."

Teyla nodded. "I had spoken with Hermiod on several occasions. He was often, as you say, cranky."

"From what I hear, they did save our asses a bunch of times, so definitely good guys, right?" Sheppard said.

"In general, very much so. Though as the proverbial exception that proves the rule, we had a run-in with an Asgard named Loki, once," Daniel pointed out.

"Oh, him. Rogue Asgard scientist, unauthorised secret genetic research on humans, cloned General O'Neill a few years ago, SG-1 caught him, the Asgard High Council put him out of business," Mitchell recited rapidly. When everyone looked at him, he shrugged. "Hey, you know me, I..."

"Read the file," Daniel and Vala finished for him. "He does that," Vala said proudly to Sheppard and Teyla. The latter two were suppressing amused smiles.

"Anyway, back to the information you're pulling out of the research lab data," Mitchell said. He pointed an expectant finger at Daniel. "Any time now, you're going to tell us about the clue you've found about this fantastic Asgard slash Ancient resource that we should go after. Right?"

"Oh, any time now," Daniel said drily. "Of course, it might turn out to be something completely pointless. Remember the alien device we found on P3K-546 that everyone got all excited about? And then it turned out to be an Ancient toaster?"

"Or it might be something dangerous, that we could not use, like the Attero device," Teyla said, looking thoughtful.

"The one on M6H-987 that the Travelers helped you blow up," Mitchell said, nodding. "Read that file too," he said in response to Sheppard's raised eyebrow. "Let's think positive here," he went on. "We might get a lead to something that we really need. Like, say, a ZPM or two?"

"Cameron's right," Vala said. "Not all of Daniel's discoveries are dangerous and potentially a threat to the entire galaxy."

"Thank you for that ringing endorsement, Vala," Daniel said.

"You're welcome, darling." She grabbed his last muffin with a triumphant smile.

"Well, since you're done stealing my breakfast, I've got to get to work," he retorted, getting to his feet.

"Good luck," Mitchell said.

"Well I'm taking Teyla out to experience some of the high points of Earth culture," Vala said, bouncing up and linking arms with the Athosian woman.

"They're going to the mall," Mitchell translated for Sheppard's benefit. "Pedicures, moccachinos, Victoria's Secret."

"Day spa," Vala corrected. "Aromatherapy, massages, and exotic fruit beverages. With a shopping trip to follow, of course."

"Have fun," Sheppard said, grinning.

Vala flashed her pirate grin over her shoulder, which prompted Mitchell to add, "And stay out of trouble!"

"So, what are you doing today?"Sheppard asked.

"I'm due to lecture a new batch of 302 pilots. Then I thought I'd drop in on Sam, see how her research is going, make sure she remembers to eat lunch. You?"

"Landry wants Lorne and me to help set up a flight simulation program for the puddle jumpers. Carson and Doctor Lam have a list of pilots who are viable candidates for the ATA gene therapy, so we may have to set up better on-planet training."

"That's a damn good idea. Listen, Thursday night is usually movie night for us whenever we're on planet. Since Sam doesn't want to go off base, we've got rec room 4 on SL-16 booked. Plenty of space for more - a few of the other SG teams might drop by. I think Teal'c already invited Ronon. The rest of you guys interested?"

"I'll pass the word. Thanks."

"Cool."

*****

It was past 6 pm when Sheppard and Lorne finally got out of the discussion with the scientists working on the puddle jumper flight simulation program. It was interesting enough, and lord knew he appreciated how important it was to have good training programs in place for newbie pilots, but being cooped up in a conference room was not the Colonel's idea of a good time.

He ran into Colonel Mitchell and Doctor Jackson as they emerged from the men's locker room. They were both dressed in sweatpants and muscle tees, and the Colonel was carrying a basketball.

"Hey, Sheppard, Lorne. Jackson and I are heading for our monthly grudge match against Teal'c and Vala. Sam said she's too busy to come, so we could use a cheering squad."

"Thanks, but I was going to get a shower, go check up on Rodney and Zelenka," Sheppard said.

"Winning team gets to pick the movie tonight," Mitchell said. "A little moral support?"

"So what do Teal'c and Vala want to watch?" Lorne asked, with a knowing grin. "I've heard how those matches usually go."

"Oh ye of little faith. I've got a good feeling - today's gonna be our day. Fine, be like that. We'll see you guys in rec room 4, 1900 Zulu."

Vala was waiting for her team mates at the basketball court, hair tied into a high pony tail and looking supremely content. She was humming a little tune, practically bouncing with energy.

"Hey. Did you have a good time?" Daniel asked, with an indulgent smile.

"Lovely, thank you, darling," Vala said with a brilliant grin. "Teyla agrees that 'girls' day out' is a fine Earth tradition. I wish I could have dragged Samantha away from her research, but she seems very obsessed with McKay's zero point energy generation model at the moment."

"Glad you had a good day, princess. But it's going to go a little downhill now. Jackson and I are so going to beat you guys today."

"Really? You're confident, are you? When was the last time you managed to do that, by the way? Oh, that's right - never!" she mocked, hands on hips. "There you are, Muscles!" she added, as Teal'c entered. "Ready to humiliate the boys yet again?"

"My apologies, Vala Mal Doran - I will be unable to participate in today's game, as General Landry has requested my assistance regarding a diplomatic message to be sent to the Jaffa High Council."

Vala pouted. Before she could voice her disappointment, Teal'c went on. "However, I have found someone to take my place."

Cameron and Daniel exchanged hopeful looks. Without Teal'c, their odds would be much better.

"Not that we mind, big guy, but if you're not playing, we'll have to waive the aliens versus earthlings rules," Mitchell pointed out.

"On the contrary, Colonel Mitchell," Teal'c said serenely, as his proposed replacement sauntered in, cracking his knuckles and wearing a predatory grin. Vala's face lit up in comprehension and anticipation. "Ronon Dex fully satisfies the criteria for participation."

"He certainly does," Vala purred. "Hello - partner."

Mitchell and Jackson looked at each other. "Oh, crap."

*****

"At least it's not a chick flick," Mitchell said later, leaning over to grab some popcorn from Daniel.

"What was the score?" Sheppard asked, with a sidelong glance of amusement.

"42-26," Vala said brightly. There was a round of mock applause from the room, now filled with various SG team members, a few from the Atlantis teams. Vala nodded, accepting the appreciation as her due.

"We kicked butt!" She exchanged a fist bump with Ronon.

"Yeah, we really did," the Satedan agreed.

"I still say using your hair like that is illegal, even by alien rules," Mitchell pretended to grumble. But his amusement kept breaking through. "We really need to write down those rules. And get a video camera in."

"True - Vala keeps coming up with new and innovative ways to cheat every single time," Daniel said. "We should record those moves for posterity." He wasn't looking particularly upset, though.

"You're just jealous that you're not as imaginative, darling."

"Just watch the movie, Vala," Daniel said sternly. Despite the words, he was sporting a deeply amused smile.

"Yeah, by the way, nice pick, Ronon," Sheppard said.

"Teal'c's idea," Ronon said, leaning back with a lazy grin.

__Yeah. Big guns, lots of cool toys, plenty of flying, smart-talking superhero saves the world. What's not to love?__ Mitchell reflected. __Say what you would about the big guy, he could pick 'em. Iron Man was the perfect choice for movie night.__


	4. Chapter 4

"If I have to listen to, 'that function is not possible,' just one more time, so help me…!" McKay fumed, stomping into the briefing room, clearly in the grip of a monumental snit.

He was closely followed by Sam and Vala, the latter miming McKay's strangulation behind his back. Sam looked torn between sympathy and exasperation.

"Just beam down from the Odyssey?" Mitchell asked, directing his question at Sam and Vala.

"Uh-huh. We were using the Asgard core to see if any of Vala's modified crystal matrix designs would be viable candidates to house Rodney's zero point energy generation model," Sam explained. "Of course, before we used the core to materialise a working prototype, we needed to be sure it would work."

"And that it wouldn't accidentally blow up, along with the ship and half the planet," Vala added with a grimace. "It's not that I don't sympathise, that hologram is a tad condescending, but honestly, he's been acting as though Thor was insulting him on purpose!"

"I gather you haven't made much progress, Doctors," Landry surmised.

"Depends on what you call progress," Rodney said snippily. "If you don't count..."

"Rodney," Sheppard cut him off, with a warning look.

McKay subsided reluctantly, sitting down next to Ronon and plonking his tablet down on the table with a deliberate snap that suggested he was still annoyed with the world. Teyla gave everyone a semi-apologetic smile. Ronon just looked amused.

Landry ignored the byplay and addressed the members of SG-1 and Sheppard's Atlantis Recon team grouped around the conference table. "Good morning. I've called this briefing in response to some important information recovered by Doctor Jackson's research team that I'm told may have some implications on our current situation with Atlantis," he said. "Doctor?" he said, waving Daniel forward.

"As you all know, we recently discovered the remains of a joint Asgard-Ancient research facility in the Ida galaxy. We were able to recover several data crystals from the archive that survived the Replicator attack, and have managed to decrypt some of the information on them, using the resources of the Odyssey's Asgard core and the Atlantis database," Daniel said, clicking on the presentation controller and bringing a new slide up on the projection screen. "It appears the Ancients had set up a limited collaboration program with the Asgard - the latter were, at the time, the less advanced species - with a view to enhancing their knowledge in certain specific areas. Interestingly, it seems they agreed to exclude certain areas from their collaboration, due to certain philosophical differences; it's fascinating how their cultural values led the two societies in different directions. For example, the Asgard were interested in extending the physical life span of individual members of their species, whereas the Ancients believed that was less important than..."

Sheppard's eyes were starting to glaze over, Rodney was tapping his stylus impatiently on the table, and Vala shot a nervous look at Landry, whose expression was freezing into a mask of barely perceptible impatience.

"He found references to the locations of other research sites, sir," Mitchell interrupted, with a speaking look at Daniel.

"Yes, well - there were references to several other facilities that were in use contemporaneously with the one we found - the research areas mentioned included power generation, ship design, and subspace communications." Daniel paused as his audience visibly perked up. "We have three new gate addresses for planets that housed Ancient research labs," he raised a hand to forestall the question, "In our galaxy, this time."

"Ancient research - that might give us a short-cut to solving the zero point energy problem," Sam said thoughtfully, just before McKay jumped in, his previous irritation forgotten.

"Did you find anything on the research itself? Was there anything about ZedPM design? We've never been able to find anything in the Atlantis database about their manufacturing process, if there's any chance..."

"Not yet. What we've been able to translate so far seems to be mostly administrative records, and some correspondence. The research records themselves are much more heavily encrypted. Translating those could take months."

Sam looked disappointed, but resigned. Vala gave her a consoling pat on the arm.

"What about the facilities on these three planets? Do you have any intel about what sort of research they were doing?" Sheppard asked, before Rodney could jump in with another question.

"Unfortunately, beyond the general indications that I talked about, we don't have specifics."

"Oh, that's great. Just great. So we could traipse halfway around the galaxy after these Ancient ruins of yours and end up finding another alien toaster," Rodney said, throwing his hands up.

Daniel gave him the long-suffering look of someone who'd had to deal with this kind of reaction all too often. Vala glared at Rodney, while Teal'c turned to eye him with the dispassionate and clinical air of one studying an annoying insect under glass.

"I should point out that what we have found is still enormously useful - we now have reliable information that precisely identifies three planetary locations. Based on the references in some of the correspondence, we've even been able to rank the locations in order of probable value. I'd say that's worth pursuing," Daniel said.

"We've gone after slimmer leads than this, Rodney. Lost City of Atlantis? Ring a bell?" Sam said, raising an ironic eyebrow.

"That was totally different!" Rodney said, but half-heartedly.

"Rodney, it is true that we have investigated planets on the basis of even less evidence, hoping to find valuable artifacts of the Ancestors," Teyla said, looking thoughtful.

"Besides, we might be able to pick up a ZPM that's no longer in use," Daniel said. "That's how we found our first one, at Taonas."

"Yeah, but I'd rather be able to make our own," Rodney said.

"Thank you all for your observations," Landry said, in a tone as dry as dust. Having cut off the flow of editorial comment, he turned to Mitchell. "Colonel, send a MALP through to the first of those planets. I'm willing to authorise a recon mission based on the information that Doctor Jackson has pieced together so far. Given the situation with Atlantis, we need to explore any reasonable avenue that may lead us to a solution. Colonel Sheppard, while I assume our scientists will continue the effort to find alternate approaches to the problem, you and your team should prepare to go off world with SG-1: I will be ordering a joint recon once we have the MALP data."

"Yes, sir," Mitchell and Sheppard said, and rose as Landry got to his feet.

"Very well. Dismissed."

*****

"Sir, the images from the MALP indicate there is no DHD at the other end. From what we can tell, the Stargate hasn't been in use for a long time. Terrain appears to be some sort of tropical rain forest, and there is no evidence of any sort of local population in the vicinity of the Stargate," Walter Harriman said.

"We'll need a portable naquadah generator to power the Gate for our return journey, sir," Mitchell said to Landry.

"And given that we don't know the exact location of the research facility or how far it might be from the Gate, we'd like to take a jumper," Sheppard added.

"Fine. You have a go, Colonels. Brief your teams, you'll be leaving at 0800 Zulu tomorrow."

*****

"So we're designating this one P9Y-773?" Daniel said, climbing into the puddle-jumper behind Vala.

"Yep," Samantha affirmed. "Wow, this brings back some memories," she said, looking around at the inside of the jumper, and making her way over to the left to sit down beside Teyla, who smiled at her.

Cameron leaned into the forward section, where Sheppard was sitting in the pilot's seat, Rodney beside him in the co-pilot's chair, and whistled his appreciation. "Nice little craft you got here, Sheppard."

Sheppard grinned slyly. "Wait till you see how she handles in the air."

"Looking forward to it."

"Well sit down and strap in, then. Control, Jumper 1 is all set."

"Gate room is clear. You have a go, Jumper 1," Walter Harriman's voice said over the radio.

Sheppard lowered the jumper to hover over the base of the ramp.

"OK, here's where we get to use our brand new dialing adaptor for the Milky Way gate system," Rodney said, as he punched in the gate address on his laptop, which was attached to the jumper's dialer by a set of leads.

The inner ring on the Stargate began to rotate and the chevrons lit up as they locked, one by one. The familiar kawoosh signaled the formation of the wormhole.

"Godspeed," came General Landry's voice from the control room.

"Thank you, sir," Sheppard said, and guided the jumper through the event horizon.

"Boys and girls, this is your Captain, reminding you to ensure your seat backs are upright and your tray tables are safely stowed while the seatbelt sign is on," he quipped, as they emerged from the other side and shot up over the tree line.

"Whoo-eee, the inertial dampeners on this baby are amazing – all the g's we're pulling, you can't feel a thing," Cameron commented, with a wide, gleeful smile. "We have got to get us one of these!"

"You signing up for that gene therapy, Shaft?" Sheppard said knowingly, one pilot to another.

"You bet. I'm next in line."

"Jumper 1, report," the voice over the radio reminded them, just a hint of amusement in the disembodied voice suggesting that the exchange had not gone unappreciated back at the SGC.

"We are clear, Control," Sheppard said. "Close the connection, we will check in as scheduled in six hours from now."

"OK, where to now, genius?" he said to his co-pilot.

"Working on it," Rodney replied. "OK, scanner indicates some fairly significant energy readings at these coordinates, roughly fifty klicks north," he said, pointing at a glowing dot on the screen. "Let's do an aerial sweep first. Better cloak the ship, to be safe."

"Already done, Rodney," Sheppard said. "Let's go find some cool Ancient toys for you to play with."

Most of the passengers were now standing to look through the view screen at the landscape. A dense green canopy of rain forest stretched out below, extending all the way to the horizon. As they approached the location, a line of silver bisected the cover ahead of them, broadening into a fairly wide river that looked to be flowing south-east.

"That's a lot of trees," Ronon said.

"Whoa, scanner's picking a lot of life signs upstream," Rodney said. "Looks like a human settlement of some kind, quite a large one."

"I see it," Sheppard said, gaining some altitude and turning west, where plumes of smoke soon became visible, marking the location of the inhabited area. Shortly thereafter, they were overflying what was clearly a populous settlement on the southern bank of the river. There was a large central clearing with a substantial single-storied building at its heart, and then concentric circles of what appeared to be fairly simple huts, ringed by a wood stockade. Just beyond the stockade, the tree cover had obviously been cleared for cultivation, and the edges tapered off into scrub-land that blended back into the forest.

"Looks fairly primitive," Rodney commented.

"From a technological stand-point, I'd agree, except those streets are laid out very straight, and I spotted irrigation lines and drains, which argues for a reasonable level of development," Daniel said. "That town down there probably holds at least a thousand people, maybe more."

"Hmm. What about those energy readings?" Sam asked.

"The source seems to be about five klicks east, downstream," Rodney explained.

The jumper turned to head in that direction. "Should be right about… whoa! Is that what I think it is?" Rodney said.

The top of a stepped pyramid rose above the tree-tops on the northern bank of the river, interrupting an otherwise unbroken stretch of dense forest cover. Sheppard banked and circled the jumper around to give them a closer look.

"It appears to be a Goa'uld landing platform," Teal'c said. "Though I would also surmise that it has been long-abandoned."

The area around the pyramid was thickly overgrown, with only the very top of the stone structure clearly visible from above.

"Teal'c's right," Daniel confirmed. "I think I know who had it built - from that mark," he said, pointing at the emblem engraved into the top of the pyramid, "I'd say it was Telchak."

"Sounds familiar," Cameron said, forehead wrinkling in thought. "Right – the Goa'uld who found an Ancient healing device and adapted the technology to build the first sarcophagus, later got bumped off by pre-ascension Anubis. You and Doctor Lee found the device in one of his hidden temples in Honduras and Sam used it to build the anti-Kull warrior weapon?"

"In a nut-shell, yes."

"He read the file," Vala said, with a nod of understanding.

"Does he remember everything he reads?" Teyla asked, looking somewhat impressed.

"Apparently so," Teal'c confirmed.

"This planet must have been abandoned by the Goa'uld after Telchak died. Combine that with the lack of a DHD and the disused condition of the Stargate, and that means the people here must have been cut off from off-planet visitors for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. We should probably try to avoid contact with them if we can, for now."

"OK, duly noted, Doctor Jackson. No scaring the superstitious natives. Anyhoo, the energy reading is definitely originating from near that pyramid, but we've got another little problem," Rodney said.

"Yeah, we can't land the jumper anywhere near here. There's not enough space, with all these trees," Sheppard said. "Next best thing – there's a bit of a clearing about two klicks east. We can park there, and then we'll have to hoof it back up through the jungle."

"Oh, joy."

"Come on, McKay. Nice day for a little hike in the woods, not too hot, with a juicy Ancient mystery waiting to be uncovered at the end of it – it'll be fun," Mitchell said with exaggerated cheer.

"Boy scout," Daniel muttered, under his breath.

"Hey, I heard that!"

*****


	5. Chapter 5

Sheppard set the jumper down in a small clearing some way further east, fortuitously on the same side of the river as the pyramid. It looked as though a lightning strike had destroyed one of the great liana-festooned trees that made up the forest canopy, probably starting a small forest fire that had been cut off quite quickly, but had left a patch of denuded ground behind to mark the spot, still sporting tell-tale scorch marks.

Once the jumper door opened, the group emerged to survey their surroundings. The undergrowth was not as dense as it might have been - most likely because the giant trees looming a hundred feet or more overhead were effectively cutting off sunlight to the vegetation at the lower levels, while their root systems monopolised the ground water.

"At least we're not going to have to hack our way through, most of the way," Daniel commented. "Ground looks well-drained, we won't have to trudge through swamp, either."

The rest of SG-1 looked relieved, clearly remembering occasions when they'd had to do both.

"We're not more than two klicks from the site, should be able to make good time," Mitchell said.

"True. But we've got another little problem," Sheppard noted, glancing at the SG-1 leader.

"Someone's got to stay behind to watch the jumper, even if we leave the cloak on," Mitchell nodded.

"I will stay," Teyla offered. "You do not need my skills to find what we are seeking."

"I'll keep Teyla company," Carter offered.

"You sure, Sam?" Cameron asked.

"McKay would probably be more useful if you run across any Ancient gadgets - he does have the gene," Sam said, though she was clearly wistful at the thought of missing the discovery of the cool alien technology.

"You can take first watch," Sheppard said. "Ronon and I'll come spell you in a couple of hours: we'll need to fly closer to the Gate to dial out for our check-in, anyway."

"Right," Sam nodded, looking a lot more cheerful at the thought that she would get her turn to play. "We'll keep the lights on. Stay in radio contact, let us know what you find."

"Don't worry, Sam, Teyla. I'll keep an eye on the boys - make sure all that testosterone doesn't get them into trouble," Vala whispered, with a conspiratorial wink, before hurrying off to catch up with the rest of the group.

They set off in the direction of the pyramid, with Ronon taking point, and Teal'c bringing up the rear. McKay was already complaining - the two women could hear his voice drifting back to the clearing. "I'm hot! And sweaty! Not to mention this place is probably crawling with snakes and spiders and god knows what else..."

"Rodney is enjoying himself," Teyla said, with a fond chuckle. "I think he likes having a new audience to complain to."

"Same old Rodney," Sam said, smiling. She sat down on the edge of the open jumper door. "He's probably not wrong about the snakes and spiders, though," she added, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings. Teyla signalled her agreement, and settled down next to the taller woman. "I am glad we will have the opportunity for some quiet conversation. It has been a while since were able to, as your people say, 'catch up' with each other."

"It will be nice," Sam said. "So how did you like 'girl's day out?' Vala said she took you to our favourite spa..."

*****

The recon team made fairly good time, even with the frequent stops to get their bearings - as Daniel had noted, the terrain wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. The mid-morning sun was mostly filtered out by the leafy canopy, resulting in a sort of dim, green half-light that was curiously soothing. Other than having to avoid a very large snake resembling a boa constrictor that was entwined around the base of a massive tree, they didn't encounter any of the assorted dangerous creepy-crawlies that McKay had been complaining about. The undergrowth did get harder to negotiate, as the group got closer to where they had spotted the pyramid earlier, and they were forced to make use of their service issue knives to chop through a few particularly difficult patches. Ronon, being in the lead, did most of the work, with a wicked looking nine-inch blade that looked closer to a machete than a belt-knife.

After about half an hour, they emerged into a large open rectangular area about a quarter-mile square, terraced with stone, over-shadowed by entwined branches of the ubiquitous giants of the rain forest. Despite the quasi-twilit effect, details of a building complex that had been obscured from aerial viewing became clear as they walked into the central plaza fronting the pyramid, which was at the north of the terrace. Adjoining the plaza on both sides were two squat, stepped platforms, one flat-topped, and the other surmounted by a single-storied building with a doorway.

The remains of what may have been a substantial building marked the southern end of the terrace, with a gradually descending paved slope.

"River's down that way," Ronon said, pointing at that end, where the water's edge was faintly visible through the trees, about five hundred feet distant.

"This looks similar to Mayan architecture of the late pre-classical period," Daniel remarked, making his way carefully toward the base of the pyramid to avoid slipping on the moss-covered stone floor. "My guess is that this is Goa'uld construction, probably about three thousand years old."

"Thought we were expecting to find some Ancient stuff here," Ronon said, staring around warily. Sheppard, Teal'c and Mitchell were also surveying the space with some caution.

"This pyramid temple does indeed appear to be of Goa'uld origin," Teal'c confirmed.

"It doesn't necessarily rule out the possibility that there are Ancient remains here," Daniel said, squatting down to stare intently at one of the stones flanking the stairway leading up the side of the pyramid. Vala bent down to peer over his shoulder. "What I mean is, we've known the Goa'uld to appropriate pre-existing technology; in Telchak's case, he did compete with Anubis to take over Ancient sites on several planets, including Earth. It's quite possible that he built around an older facility, or incorporated parts of it into his own." He reached out to brush the moss off the stone in front of him. "These glyphs are definitely a Goa'uld influenced Mayan script."

McKay was frowning down. "Whatever this place is supposed to be, there's definitely a strong energy signature here- it's not coming from the pyramid, it's from that building over on the platform," he said, walking over in that direction and stopping to look up the flight of steps.

"OK, let's go take a look," Sheppard said. The group ascended the stairs, Sheppard and Jackson in the lead. Pointing the flashlights mounted atop their P90s into the gloom beyond the doorway, they advanced into a medium sized chamber, apparently quite bare aside from writings and paintings on the walls.

"Oh, eww," Vala said, as her flashlight illuminated a particularly gruesome painted relief on the right hand wall. "I'd heard Telchak was twisted, but this is grotesque, even for a Goa'uld." The brilliantly coloured painting depicted a man in ceremonial regalia standing over a human sacrifice stretched out on a large blue altar stone, holding aloft the bloody heart that he had apparently ripped from the victim's chest. Ronon and Teal'c walked over to study the painting at closer range.

"Well, it's a controversial subject, but some scholars believe that Mayan epigraphic evidence found on Earth indicates that the God Chaak - whom we know as Telchak - required human sacrifices from his followers," Daniel explained. "The Mayans would drown young men and women in cenotes, sacred wells, to ensure Chaak's blessing on the harvest. Captured enemies would be sacrificed more violently," he went on, with a gesture at the wall. "Sometimes they would tie them up and inflict a number of small but painful cuts, so the victims would bleed slowly to death. Otherwise, Telchak would have his enemies ritually skinned, or decapitated..."

"Whoa, whoa - too much information, thank you!" McKay interrupted loudly, looking sick.

"Sounds like a real nice guy," Sheppard said, the side of his mouth quirking up in a humourless grin.

"Well, fascinating as all that disgusting history is, Daniel, shouldn't there be something else here to explain the energy signature? Like a machine of some sort? I don't know if you've noticed, but this looks like an empty room," Vala pointed out, coming up behind Mckay and propping her chin up on his shoulder. "Rodney, what do you think?"

He shrugged her off absently and walked up to the rear wall. "The energy reading's coming from this direction, so there must be something behind here."

Daniel joined him, squinting at the writings on the wall. "I think you're right," the archaeologist said. He reached out and pushed at an indentation in the wall, which gave way slightly, with a grinding noise. "The door mechanism's broken. Guys? A little help?

MItchell and Teal'c walked over, and joined Daniel to push at the section he indicated. With all three men setting their shoulders into it, a hidden door swung slowly inward, with a disused groan of protest.

"Nice," Rodney commented, walking into the newly revealed room. There was a bank of Goa'uld computers lining the left wall. An enormous squared off pillar of gleaming dark stone ran through the centre of the room, from floor to ceiling.

Rodney leaned over the computer interfaces eagerly. Just as he reached out to touch one of them, Daniel grabbed his wrist. "Careful. Telchak liked booby-traps."

"Oh, right. Good thinking," Rodney said, snatching his hand back. He ran his scanner over the interface first, studying the readouts on the data pad, before attaching a lead to the interface and linking his tablet computer to it. "Found it. These consoles are rigged to erase the mainframe here in case of unauthorised access, but I can bypass that."

"What do you suppose this is here for?" Vala asked, circling slowly around the central pillar, head cocked inquisitively.

"Vala, watch out!" Daniel called out sharply, just she ducked out of the way of a familar looking device that burst abruptly from the side of the pillar toward her head.

"Not again," she sniffed, sounding annoyed. "I hate it when those things do that."

"OK, people, let's just make sure everybody stays a nice safe distance from the head sucking machine. I don't care how much we want that information, no one is getting their brains fried again on my watch," Mitchell announced firmly. "This means you, Jackson."

Daniel shot him a withering look, which didn't soften Mitchell's narrowed-eyed, insistent stare in the slightest. Finally the archaeologist sighed and dipped his chin in a tiny nod, which apparently satisfied the other man enough that his expression cleared.

Rodney was hunched over his datapad, muttering to himself. Mitchell exchanged a look with Sheppard, and nodded to the door. "I'm gonna update Sam, scout around outside some. Keep an eye on things here?"

Sheppard had no trouble interpreting that as, Make sure the two geniuses stay out of trouble.

"Sure."

"I will accompany you, Colonel Mitchell," Teal'c said.

"Yeah, me too," Ronon after a silent nod from Sheppard.

*****

"... so it looks like they're making some progress. Teal'c, Dex and I are scouting the perimeter. How are things at your end?"

"All quiet here, Cam," Carter said. "Teyla and I haven't seen a thing out of the ordinary."

"Good to know. Should have your relief over in about an hour. Mitchell out."

"Roger that," Sam responded, cutting the radio and smiling at her companion.

"You heard the man," she said. "All we have to do is kill another hour or so."

Teyla's answering smile was a little perfunctory, at least by the usual warm standards of the Athosian woman.

"Hey. You OK?" Sam asked, looking concerned. "I know you must be worried about getting back to your son, to your family, I mean."

"I do miss Torren John," Teyla confessed. "However, I know he is safe with Kanaan. It is not that I am worried about my return, exactly. Generals O'Neill and Landry, as well as , have assured me that I may join the crew of the Daedalus on the next scheduled departure for the Pegasus Galaxy, should I wish it. But I would much prefer to stay with my team until we can all return together - if they are permitted to do so."

"General O'Neill is working on it. You can trust him to sort things out," Sam said, taking the other woman's hand in a re-assuring clasp.

"I do trust him. In fact, I have the utmost respect for his integrity, resourcefulness, and intelligence. But I do not have the same confidence in the IOA. Their attitude towards people that I regard most highly - first Elizabeth and John, and then you, has been less than inspiring. Although I must admit that Mr. Woolsey has proven to be a much better leader than many of us expected, it was a shock when they replaced you as the expedition leader, for reasons that I considered trivial."

"I agree the politics are murky," Sam said ruefully. "But the only reason General O'Neill agreed to accept Woolsey in command of Atlantis, was that he trusted him, ultimately, to make the right choices. Richard Woolsey can be bureaucratic, but he is a straight-shooter, and I'd say he's proven himself over the last year."

"He has earned our respect," Teyla agreed.

"Attagirl," Sam said, smiling. "Look, the General won't take no for an answer - and neither will the rest of us, so don't worry so much."

"I will try not to do so," Teyla agreed, with a smile that looked far less forced.

*****

Back in the hidden chamber, Rodney had progressed from low-voiced muttering to highly audible swearing.

"What's the matter, Rodney?" Daniel asked, distracted from his scrutiny of the wall inscriptions.

"It doesn't look like Telchak made much progress with the Ancient material. The notes say that he built his lab around the pillar here, and there's a mention of a weather-control machine that he apparently found on a different level, but there isn't anything of value in here: either he couldn't figure out how to interface with the Ancient systems, or he took the data with him when he left!"

"I suppose it's possible he couldn't get into the database at all," Vala said. "We do know that those brain-sucking thingies are programmed not to respond to anyone with a symbiote."

"I know, but it doesn't make sense," Rodney said, shaking his head in frustration. He turned to stare at the interface on the pillar, and then back at his tablet. "Something's missing."

He got his feet and started pacing around the room. "If the pillar was here all along, then it's likely this was the heart of the original research facility, and they'd have used manual consoles as well, particularly if they were working on weather control systems, so there should be... ah-ha! I knew it," he exclaimed, coming to an abrupt stop in front of the far wall. He hunched over his datapad and started typing furiously.

Daniel and Vala both looked at Sheppard for enlightenment. I dunno, he shrugged.

"Rodney? Have you found something?" Daniel asked, turning to look at the scientist.

"Have I found something? Remember who you're talking to? Rodney Mckay, that well-known genius, knows a thing or two about Ancient systems!" he crowed.

"He's talking about himself in the third person now," Vala said, in a loud whisper.

"I know," Sheppard said.

"Some might consider that a sign that he's, well," Vala paused and mouthed the word, "Wonko," accompanied by a meaning finger twirl to the side of her head.

"I know," Sheppard agreed wearily.

"John, get over here," Rodney said, oblivious.

"What, Rodney?" Sheppard asked, walking up to stand beside him.

"Give me a second," McKay said, reaching out and placing his left palm on the wall. "Now stretch your hand out, and think 'console.'"

Sheppard gave him a cock-eyed look, but complied. After a moment, they were rewarded with a new interface rising out of the floor in front of them, with a musical chime.

"Jackpot!" Rodney announced triumphantly. "Didn't I tell you?"

"You did," Daniel agreed, with a fascinated stare at the softly glowing controls that had just been revealed.

"Give me a second to plug in my machine, and... we're in business!"

"Oh, yay. Plug mine in too, while you're at it. I'd like to get in on the action," Daniel said.

*****

"Colonel Mitchell, Ronon Dex, you will wish to see this," came Tealc's bass rumble over the radio. He waved down at the other men from the platform halfway up the great stone pyramid.

Mitchell jogged up the stairs, easily out-paced by Ronon's long legs. "Oh boy - definitely not a good sign," the colonel said, staring down at what Teal'c had discovered. "Maybe this place is not as abandoned as we thought it was."

"It's pretty fresh, smells human," Ronon confirmed, having knelt down to test the evidence with a finger. "No more than a week old."

"Sheppard, come in."

"Go ahead, Mitchell," came the instant response.

"We just found a big old altar here, covered with recent blood stains," Mitchell said. "Looks like someone might still be using this place for some of the quaint local customs that Jackson described before. I'm heading back to you, might be a good idea to get McKay and Jackson to speed things up a little."

"Understood."

*****

Teal'c and Ronon kept a look-out outside, while the rest of the group had a quick huddle. They decided that Rodney, Daniel and Vala would try to copy as much of the database contents as they could - a task that, in Rodney's words, would take 'a couple of hours, tops', while the rest of the team kept a watchful eye out for any sign of the native population. They advised Sam and Teyla to close the jumper door - with the cloak engaged, that would hopefully avoid any unwanted notice from any unexpected passers-by.

Sheppard headed out to join Teal'c and Ronon at the perimeter, while Mitchell took his place guarding the door.

Suddenly, Daniel stopped working and stared up at the ceiling contemplatively. After a moment, he tapped his radio. "Sam? Do you happen to know if tonight is a new moon on this planet?"

"Let me check, Daniel," she answered. "Yes, it is," she answered, after a brief review of the images of the night sky the MALP had collected earlier (one of the standard practices at the SGC to obtain visual confirmation vis-a-vis their star map calculations).

"Oh, okay. I was afraid of that," Daniel said. "There's a strong possibility we're going to have company fairly soon."

"Explain?" Mitchell raised a curious eyebrow.

"The night of the new moon was considered sacred to the rain god, Chaak."

"Say no more. So tonight'd be a chance for the locals to cut loose - a little ritual sacrifice, maybe fire up the barbecue, some family fun," Mitchell suggested.

"Pretty much."

"That's just peachy."

"Heads up," Ronon's voice crackled over the radio. "Just spotted a bunch of boats coming our way."

"How many?"

"A lot. I'm counting a hundred heads, maybe more."

"Okay, that's it. We're done here."

"I just need ten more minutes," Rodney protested. "Okay, five!"

"McKay. Did you just forget everything Jackson said earlier? You really want to take a chance on ending up as the guest of honour at this party?"

"Er, on second thought. I'm done now."

"OK, pack up, let's blow this popsicle stand before they spot us."

The distinctive sound of a zat activating echoed over the radio. "Unfortunately, it is too late for that, Mitchell," Teal'c said. "I regret that my position was discovered by a small party of warriors advancing by land. I incapacitated a few of them, but at least two were able to escape, and will no doubt warn the rest of the village of our presence."

A rising tide of ululating cries from the river signalled that Teal'c was right.

"Ronon!" Sheppard whispered urgently over the comms. "Status!"

"I'm fine. I'm under cover, close to the waterline. Turning my comm link off for now, these guys are coming ashore in batches."

"Teal'c, Sheppard, fall back to our position here," Mitchell suggested quietly. "We should be able to lie low in the secret chamber."

"I am on my way, Mitchell."

"Not a chance. I'm on the other side of the terrace, no way I'll get back there without being seen," Sheppard said. "I'm going to try and make it to the jumper."

"Copy, Sheppard. Good luck. Carter, Teyla, did you hear that?"

"Affirmative. We'll keep an eye out for you, John."

The rattle of P90 fire sounded in the plaza. Mitchell ran to the outer doorway and looked cautiously out, immediately spotting Teal'c out in the open, halfway across the terrace to the stairs leading up to their position. He was firing in the air, and the unfamilar sound had momentarily halted the large group of natives who swarmed the southern end of the complex. They carried spears, bows and arrows, and long knives. A tall man wearing a feathered head-dress shouted something which made the warriors break into a ragged charge.

"Shit! Covering fire!" Mitchell said, running out on to the platform. With some regret, he deliberately shot the lead runner in the leg. Daniel came up beside him, and dropped to one knee, P90 at the ready. Both men fired in short, deliberate bursts, trying to disable rather than kill the attackers. Cameron could see Teal'c racing toward their position, pausing to turn and shoot every few yards. Behind him, he heard Vala and McKay join in, firing from the cover of the doorway, keeping up a steady volley to slow the advancing tribesmen.

A line of archers had formed up at the south end. A wave of warriors had worked around the terrace to run at them from the north-eastern side. "Daniel!" Wordlessly, the archaelogist turned around to cover the other flank, ignoring the arrows that were now starting to whistle all around them.

Teal'c had reached the base of the stairs. Cameron focused his fire on cutting off his closest pursuers. At the edge of field of vision, he noticed the head-dress wearing native wave a line of spearmen into the attack. He didn't dare shift focus. "Vala! The guy wearing all the feathers!" he barked.

"All right," came her calm voice, followed by a shot. "Got him." Out of the corner of his eye, Cameron saw the warrior drop. There was a wail of despair from the natives - and the advance halted. Teal'c bounded up the last few steps and turned to face the attack, which had stopped completely.

"That was the halach uinic, the king," Daniel said quietly. "Good call, Cameron, it bought us some time."

They retreated through the doorway, keeping a wary eye on the tribesmen outside.

"I didn't shoot to kill," Vala said. "He'll probably survive that."

"I don't want to be a wet blanket, but this is probably just a temporary respite. Their King falling was a pretty bad omen, so they'll back off for a bit - not for too long. We've just broken several of their strongest taboos, they're pretty much obligated to seek retribution, now."

*****

"This is probably not one of our best attempts at first contact," Cameron said. "I'll bet those people have never even seen a gun before."

"Don't beat yourself up," Daniel said, looking up from reloading his gun. "I know how you feel, but we didn't have much of a choice."

"I guess. Gotta say, though, all that chanting is starting to get real old, real fast," Mitchell said, peeking out at the natives, who were now assembled at the base of the step pyramid, while a group of men stood at the altar above them. "Say, Jackson - can you follow what the guy in the blue robe is yelling?"

"Yeah, pretty much. The language is similar to a Meso-American Mayan dialect, so..." He waved his hand to signify that the explanation was unimportant. "It's not good news for us. By the sound of things, he's working them up into a religious frenzy, something about punishing the evil demons desecrating their holy ground."

"So he's some kind of priest?"

"Yeah, my guess would be that he's the nacom, the sacrificer of human beings."

"Like the one in that picture?" Vala said, with a grimace of distaste. Daniel nodded.

"Am I the only one who thinks we should run away screaming at this point?" Rodney asked, his tone no more than slightly hysterical. He clutched his P90 to his chest and leaned against the wall.

"It's not that I don't enjoy being cooped up with you boys in this dank little chamber, but that is an option we should consider," Vala said. "The running away part, I mean - the screaming is optional and most likely counter-productive."

"If either of you can think of a way to get past the hundreds of heavily-armed and blood-thirsty natives, sure," Cameron said.

*****


	6. Chapter 6

"Sheppard, what's your status?" Mitchell said quietly into the radio.

There was no response.

"Carter?"

"No sign of him yet," Sam said tersely.

"What about Ronon?" Teyla asked, sounding worried. "They may have been forced to lie low to avoid discovery."

"What if they've been captured?" McKay said, eyes wide and horrified.

"If they'd been captured, we'd know about it by now," Daniel said. "They'd be taken straight to the altar for the priests to make examples of."

"Oh, that's comforting," McKay snapped. "Thank you for that reminder of the horrible fates awaiting us all, Danny!"

"Bottom-line, let's assume they're OK for now. How about the small matter of us getting out of here?" Mitchell said. "Ideas, anyone?"

"If we could get to the river unseen, we might be able to commandeer one of their boats," Teal'c suggested. "The jumper is downstream of this location."

"Yeah, but 'unseen' might be a bit of a problem," Mitchell said.

"We'd need some sort of diversion. Toss some C4 over at the other end of the square to create an explosion? While they're distracted, we make a run for it," McKay said hopefully.

"Primitive does not necessarily mean stupid, Rodney. Even if it buys us a few seconds, it's a long way down to the river. Plus, it's likely they have some people guarding the boats," Daniel said.

"Good point," Mitchell said. "But McKay's right about the diversion part. Anything we can use back in that lab?"

"No," Daniel and Rodney chorused, looked at each other, then away. "Nothing that I noticed," McKay clarified, with a rueful grimace.

"Perhaps not in the lab itself," Vala said, looking thoughtful. "But this is a Goa'uld building."

"How does that help?" Rodney said, bewildered.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow and nodded, as though Vala had said something useful. Mitchell pointed a finger at her, nodded firmly, and turned to Daniel with an expectant air. "Exactly. A Goa'uld building belonging to Telchak. Jackson?"

"Hmm. He did like hiding things," Daniel said, pursing his lips. "Rodney, didn't you find a reference to an Ancient weather control device on a different level?"

"Uh, yes, but how... oh! You mean you think it's here? And there's some sort of..."

"Secret entrance? Yes," Daniel said, scrambling to his feet. "And where there's an entrance..."

"There may also be an exit," Vala finished.

*****

"I'm beginning to think this Telchak was completely demented," Vala said.

"What gave you the first clue?" McKay enquired. "His appalling taste in art, or his disgusting appetite for human sacrifices?"

"That, and his absolute paranioa about security," Vala said, unperturbed. "Which is proving to be something of a hindrance, at the moment. I can't make any sense of the information in this system."

"Well, if you'd stop distracting me with all the chatter, maybe I'd be able to..."

"If both of you would shut up for a minute, I think Jackson's found something," Mitchell interrupted.

Daniel was crouched on the floor, brushing off the cracks around one of the flagstones on the lab floor. He tapped the butt of his gun against it.

"Sounds hollow," Mitchell agreed. "Do we pry it up?"

"No, don't think that would work, it's too large," Daniel said absently, "There should be some sort of lever around here that opens it," he said, squatting on his haunches and looking around.

"And what would that look like?"

"No idea. It is supposed to be a secret entrance."

"You must hasten, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c called from his post at the outer doorway.

Outside, the sound of chanting had subsided.

"The warriors are now lining up to be blessed by their priests. I surmise that it will not be long before they charge us once again."

"OK, it's got to be hidden in one of these," Mitchell said, staring at the reliefs on the rear wall of the lab. "Come on, people - look for anything that seems like it might be a handle."

Daniel was already feeling around, looking for any sections that might be movable. Vala and Rodney joined the two men, wearing almost identical looks of disgust at having to touch the rather gory scenes.

"Got it," Mitchell said, pulling at a relief depicting a decapitated head at Telchak's feet. "And, for the record? Ugh."

There was a rumbling sound, and a section of the floor slid down and sideways, revealing a narrow stairway.

"They are coming!" Teal'c announced.

"Get back in here, Teal'c! Everyone else, down the hatch!" Mitchell said urgently.

Teal'c ran in and joined the team leader in shouldering the lab door back in place. Guns at the ready and flashlights on, the group walked down the stairs, which wound around three landings before levelling off.

"OK, that's definitely Ancient," Daniel said, coming to a stop. The new chamber they entered lighted up as they walked in. The centerpiece of the room was a control device, the top covered with rectangular stone buttons labelled in Ancient writing, similar to the devices they had found on P4X-639, Dakara, and the Camelot planet.

"This has got to be the weather control device mentioned in Telchak's database!" Rodney exclaimed. "Think it still works?" He leaned over and tapped a drawer, which immediately slid out, revealing a tray of crystals.

"Do we care?" Vala said. "Personally, I'm much more concerned that there doesn't seem to be another way out of this place. Given the lack of wall pantings, I doubt if there's another secret door handle."

"I think she's right," Daniel admitted. "Looks like a dead end."

Teal'c and Mitchell were both looking up the way they'd entered.

"I do not think the secret entrance to the lab has been discovered," Teal'c said. "There are no footsteps from the room above."

"Well, that's something. With any luck, they don't know about the second room, so it's going to look like we vanished into thin air. Or at least, it'll buy us some time until they find the door."

Daniel was taking a closer look at the control device. "This is fascinating," he said. "From the markings, it seems like this device is designed to control climatic elements on a planetary scale!"

"I'm pretty sure it's not operational any more," Rodney said, getting up from his examination of the crystals. "Power's been drained. And that's not even the bad news."

Everyone turned to look at him.

"Yes, well - based on the markings on the device, combined with the notes that I skimmed from the interface in the lab, I'm pretty sure this facility was dedicated to botanical research. The whole damn planet was probably meant to be a gigantic Ancient greenhouse!"

There was a brief silence. Mitchell let out a low whistle. "Planet-sized greenhouse. Cool."

"You're completely missing the point!" Rodney fumed. "If this a botanical research facility, then -"

"We're not likely to find anything pertaining to your energy research, or ZPMs. I get that, Doctor McKay," Mitchell said. "It's still cool."

"So glad this situation is entertaining you! There's still an army of screaming savages up there, just waiting to get their hands on us, and I don't know about you, but I like my body parts where they are, thanks very much! And we still don't have a plan to get back to the jumper..."

"If you can get to the water, we can use a boat to get down river," a voice crackled over the radio.

"John?" Rodney half-shouted, in sheer relief. "Oh thank God, you're OK!"

"Course I am. Quit screaming in my ear, will ya?"

"Sheppard, good to hear from you," Mitchell said. "We were getting a mite worried."

"Yeah, well, I was a little busy, is all."

"What's your status?"

"Ronon's here, we're both holed up near the river. They've only got a couple of guards near the boats, so if you can get down here, we should be all set."

"Sounds good, except for the fact that we seem to be trapped, and the only exit is swarming with hostiles," Mitchell said.

"Yeah, that could be a problem," Sheppard agreed. "They're still milling around the building you're in."

"We could set up a diversion, with some C4," Ronon offered.

There was a loud scraping sound in the room. Everyone swung round to see Rodney gaping at a gap that had suddenly opened in one of the walls.

"Hold that thought," Mitchell said, slowly. "What did you just do, McKay?"

"I was just thinking about how nice it would be if there was another door out of this place, and it just - appeared," McKay said, still looking flabbergasted.

"Score another one for the ATA gene," Daniel said.

"Well done, Rodney," Vala said, with a brisk slap on the back. "I knew there was a reason we brought you along." Before he could splutter an outraged response, she grabbed his vest and leaned close. "Now, kindly shut up. I believe we want to make a quiet exit."

*****

It turned out the door led to a tunnel, which in turn led to an opening that gave out into the forest, quite near the shore line. The group emerged warily, Teal'c in the lead. After a moment to get his bearings, he gestured silently to their left. They started after him, as silently as possible. A few mintues later, a tall shape suddenly loomed up in front of them. Weapons snapped up, until, the distinctive silhouette of Ronon's dreadlocks became obvious. He put a warning finger to his lips, and gestured at the shoreline.

"Sheppard's waiting that way," he said. "Keep low, we'll have to get past the edge of the terrace. It's all lit up now."

As they crossed over, the group could see that the centre of the building complex was firelit with hundreds of torches. After a tense five minutes, they managed to slip past, using the vegetation as cover. Fortunately, thanks to the new moon, the area beyond the terrace was reassuringly dark.

Now they could see the boats, canoes really, tethered close to the bank. There were over thirty of them. As they got closer, Sheppard glided silently out of the shadows. Behind him, Mitchell spotted two of the native warriors, apparently unconscious, hands and feet tied up.

Teal'c moved to examine the nearest canoes. He nodded approval at two large ones, and everyone piled into them as quickly as possible. Ronon pushed one off, Teal'c the other, and they both leapt in. Paddling the canoes downstream, they were soon making rapid progress. After they got about a quarter of mile, a shout echoed down to them. Turning around to look astern, they could see the shadowy forms of canoes putting out in pursuit.

"Let's get a move on!" Sheppard gritted between his teeth. Everyone began paddling with renewed enthusiasm. The current was helping them, but it would also undoubtedly favour their pursuers. Arrows began whistling in their direction, thankfully falling short of their boats - their short lead was proving to be invaluable.

A few minutes later, Sam's voice came over the radio. "You're close enough," came Sam's voice over the radio. "Get to the shore, now!"

After a little bit of a struggle, they managed to steer the boats ashore. After a scrambling run through the undergrowth, they were in the clearing, where the welcome sight of the jumper's open hatch greeted them. Sam and Teyla stood at either end of the opening, weapons shouldered and ready. There was a rush to board, and Sheppard practically dove into the pilot's seat and slapped the hatch control. The door closed after Teal'c, who had been the last to board.

"Everybody sit down. We're leaving," Sheppard said, taking off. As he got the jumper off the ground and turned it around, the first of their pursuers arrived in the clearing at a run. Since the jumper was cloaked, they were understandably puzzled that their quarry had apparently vanished into thin air - a second time. There were undoubtedly going to be some interesting new stories passed down the generations in the wake of this starnge visitation.

"Jumper 1, you are 20 minutes late for your scheduled check-in," came a voice over the radio. "Please report."

"We're headed back home, Control. Sorry about missing the check-in, we had a little problem over here."

"Is everyone OK, Colonel?" It was General Landry's voice. "What is the status of your mission?"

"Everyone is safely aboard the jumper, sir. The natives were having a little religious ceremony, and we decided not to stick around to be the guests of honour."

"Huh. I'm looking forward to the post-mission debrief, folks. See you back at the SGC."

Back at the planet's Stargate, Sam and Vala disembarked briefly, got the naquadah generator hooked up, reset the MALP to return through the gate once it had been dialled, and clambered hastily back on board.

"Just another routine day at the office, boys and girls," Mitchell said.

"Routine, huh?" Ronon said. "A lot of your missions turn out like this?"

The SG-1 team looked at each other.

"Yes," Vala shrugged.

"Only there's usually more explosions. At least this time we didn't blow anything up," Daniel added.

"Oh. Just like back home, then," Ronon said.

*****


	7. Chapter 7

The worst thing about working in Washington, General O'Neill reflected, was having to wear the damn service uniform all the time.

Richard Woolsey was fidgeting in the seat next to him, clutching a stack of manila folders.

"You don't have to look so nervous, you know. He already knows you didn't vote for him, that won't affect his thinking in any way," Jack said.

"That isn't what I'm concerned about! It's just that I'm not sure I have the numbers correctly organised, it was very short notice," Woolsey said, in a harassed tone. Then he turned sharply to O'Neill. "Wait - what do you mean, he knows I didn't vote for him?"

"I'm sure he's guessed it. He's a really bright guy. I mean, look at the way you dress. You probably iron your pyjamas, for crying out loud."

Before Woolsey could summon up an adequate retort, the cheerful young woman who had seated them came back into the room.

"He's ready for you now, gentlemen."

Jack got to his feet and pulled his uniform straight. "Come on, Richard. It's showtime!"

*****

Meanwhile, back at the SGC...

"Pretty sure it's Ronon's turn to get smacked around," Sheppard grumbled. "Ronon's turn to get some exercise," he amended, after receiving a speaking look from Teyla.

"Ronon is busy. He promised Daniel that he would assist him in updating the language database with the Old Satedan script," said Teyla. "Besides, you need this more than he does. He is now quite proficient in the Athosian style," she added, with a quick twirl of her fighting sticks.

By the time they reached the SGC's martial arts gym, they found it already occupied. From the way his T-shirt was plastered to his back, Mitchell had been sparring with Teal'c for a while. The Jaffa warrior on the other hand, had barely broken a sweat. Teyla looked at their weapons with great interest: long staves with rope padded ends. Mitchell wasn't doing too badly, Shappard noted. He'd seen Teal'c and Ronon spar, and from his own experience, it was no picnic going up against either of them with a staff.

As they watched, Mitchell tried a complicated looking manoeuvre, aiming a thrust at Teal'c's neck, pulling back and ducking the other man's block, and then whirling the weapon around for a strike at his side. Teal'c stepped sideways, blocked the strike, and brought the end of his own staff up to tap his opponent's chin, making his teeth click together audibly. Sheppard winced in sympathy - the big guy had clearly pulled his punch, but it would still hurt.

"Damn!" said Mitchell, lowering his weapon and bending over, panting for breath. "Still haven't got that move down."

"It was a good attempt," Teal'c responded calmly. "You merely pulled back from the feint too early, before I had committed myself to counter the blow. An instant longer, and my side would have been unguarded."

"Yeah. I'll remember that for next time," he said, straightening up. "Ow," he complained mildly, feeling at his jaw.

"That is an interesting style," Teyla commented, to Teal'c. "It appears different than the one you used against Ronon the other day."

"It is a Sodan technique," he explained. "This fighting style was long neglected by the Jaffa until Colonel Mitchell encountered the Sodan some years ago. Since then, we have revived its practice, as have many of the Jaffa."

"Some of us need more practice than others," Cameron put in, rolling his shoulders with a grimace of discomfort.

Sheppard looked over at Teyla's fascinated expression and realised that he might have found a way to avoid the usual bruising at her hands.

"You know, it might be interesting to try your sticks up against that staff," he said casually.

"Indeed," Teal'c said, a glimmer of interest breaking through his stoic demeanour.

"If you are willing to spar, I would take as a kindness," Teyla said.

Teal'c inclined his head with his customary courtesy, and gestured her into the ring. John managed to contain his whoop of inner glee, and then caught Cameron's knowing grin, as the other man replaced his staff in the stand next to the door. "Better him than you, huh?" he whispered, his back to the other two in the room.

"She needs to let off steam, and Ronon's busy right now," Sheppard replied, his voice low. "Anyway, I try not get beaten up more than twice a week," he said, and turned his attention back to watching the sparring session.

After trying a few exploratory blows that were easily parried, Teyla was circling the tall Jaffa, and adjusting her grip on her sticks. "I have not seen footwork like that before. Some of the marines on Atlantis use staves to fight, but their style is very different." She launched a flurry of rapid, assymetrical strikes.

"This discipline is somewhat different from the techniques the Jaffa developed after the Sodan were cut off from us," said Teal'c, switching rhythms to parry with little apparent effort. "As I said, I have but recently begun to practice it myself."

"It is elegant," said Teyla, beginning to alternate kicks with the strikes. "And flexible as well," she went on to note, as Teal'c responded by moving into the attack, using his greater reach to push her back.

That was the end of the conversation for a while, as both participants stepped up the tempo.

"Something on Teyla's mind?" Mitchell asked, as the speed and intensity of the bout increased. He could see Teal'c was exerting himself now.

"General Landry told us that Daedalus will be heading to the Pegasus Galaxy for a recon mission, to see what the status is with the Wraith, check in with some of our allies. They're leaving next week."

"So Teyla and Ronon..."

"Need to decide whether they want to head back with the ship. This may be their last chance for a few months. Now that there's no need to resupply Atlantis, there won't be regular runs to Pegasus and back."

"I hear Woolsey submitted a proposal to set up an Alpha site on the same planet where the Athosians settled," Mitchell commented.

"Yeah, the IOA's 'examining the proposal'," said Sheppard. "But it's still up in the air."

"I can see that makes things difficult," said Mitchell, sympathetically.

"It's rough on Teyla, with her family and her people back there, and her team over here. To be honest, Cam - I'm not sure how to help. It's easier with Ronon, you know? Teyla needs to - talk, and stuff. I'm trying, but I'm not really good at that."

"Maybe Teal'c can help. He's been in a similar situation, had to leave his people to work with the SGC - they've got that in common. Big guy's a really good listener, too."

Sheppard looked thoughtful. "You might be right. Would you..."

Mitchell nodded. "I'll have a word with him. Right after..." He paused. "How long do you think they're going to be at this?"

The bout showed no sign of lessening in intensity. Teyla was grinning in fierce delight, and despite the stoic facade that most people couldn't read, he knew Teal'c well enough to see how much he was enjoying himself.

"Could be quite a while," Sheppard realised.

"Yeah. I'm gonna get a shower, talk to Teal'c later. If you're planning to stick around, you might as well get comfortable," said Mitchell, tossing him a bottle of Gatorade. Sheppard caught it, gave it a dubious look, and then settled down on one of the benches to watch.

"I am glad you are staying, John," Teyla called, her gaze never leaving her opponent. "I have not forgotten our sparring session. You may wish to warm up."

"Oh. That's great. Thanks," Sheppard said, trying to keep his chagrin from showing. It looked like he would be collecting a set of bruises after all.

*****

Later the same day, both SG-1 and Sheppard's Atlantis Recon teams were assembled for a briefing with General Landry, discussing their findings on the 'greenhouse planet', as Mitchell had taken to describing it.

"We did get some important information, sir," said Samantha Carter. "Even though we didn't quite meet the mission objective."

"I understand the botany department found the material from the Ancient lab very interesting," General Landry said.

"Oh sure, the phytopathologists are all thrilled - apparently they're one step closer to finding the cure for tomato mosaic disease. Hallelujah. That's going to be one giant leap for mankind," McKay grumbled.

"Actually, I'm told they may be able to use the data to help contain some serious crop diseases that are affecting yields in some of the world's poorest nations, McKay. Plus, the Ancients had a very advanced understanding of ecology on the macro as well as micro level," Sam said in a reproving tone.

"Solving problems like world hunger or global deforestation sounds like 'a giant leap for mankind', Rodney," Sheppard pointed out, grinning.

"Yes, well, that's not what she was talking about," Rodney said, dismissing this with an irritated wave. "Get to the good part, Sam."

"By all means, Colonel - get to the good part," Landry said drily.

"Some of the information was negative: the planet did, at one time, house an older research facility that was dedicated to energy research, but it had since been moved," Sam explained. "The Ancients then terraformed the entire planet, introducing plant species of their choosing, and studying them under controlled weather conditions. After several millenia of research, they abandoned the planet completely. Obviously, by the time the Goa'uld arrived, there were only a few remains from the second research facility."

"Yes, yes, but more to the point, we were able to cross-reference one of the two other gate addresses that Daniel's team found at the archive in the Ida galaxy," said McKay, in a rush. Sam gave him a speaking look. "Sorry - I'll let you tell it," McKay said hastily.

"As I was going to explain, sir," Sam went on, with elaborate patience, "Once we accessed the data from the Ancient console, we found a reference to one of the other two planets we were planning to explore, the one we've designated P7T-943. It seems the Ancients had a shipyard there, one where they were building Aurora-class vessels."

"Ah. Anything to do with Ancient ship design could be extremely useful, and finding any actual Ancient warships would be even better," Landry said.

"Not to mention, Aurora-class ships are powered by ZPMS, sir," Mitchell put in. "It could be an answer to our problems in more ways than one."

"It could be, yes," the general said, pursing his lips thoughtfully. "But what if the Goa'uld got to this shipyard first?"

"It's pretty unlikely, General: there's no indication in Telchak's records that he ever found the Ancient database," Daniel said. "We wouldn't have either, except that we had someone along with the ATA gene. Also, as far as we know, the planet doesn't fall under the territories claimed by any of the Goa'uld system lords."

"Plus, we did send a MALP through, there are no signs of any current inhabitants, let alone Goa'uld, anywhere near the Stargate. It's worth a shot, sir," said Mitchell, in a persuasive tone. "On the off chance that some minor Goa'uld did occupy the planet at some point, we haven't let that stop us before."

"It's still a risk, even if a minor one," Landry said. "But you have a provisional go-ahead: I'll figure out how to handle the IOA."

"You think the IOA'll have some objection, sir?" asked Sheppard, curiously.

"The only reason I've been able to over-ride their concerns about putting both our front-line teams in harm's way at the same time, is that they're as desperate to find ZPMs to power Atlantis as anyone else," Landry said.

"I understood that most members of the IOA were not convinced of the need to return Atlantis to the Pegasus Galaxy," said Teyla, with a puzzled frown.

"They're not," Landry confirmed. "With the uncertain status of the Antarctic Weapons Platform, they see Atlantis as Earth's best defence against any future invasions. But the fact is, without the ZPMs to power her, she's not much good to us here either."

"Great. So let's say we bust our butts and somehow manage to find the ZedPMs we need, and we could still be stuck here," said McKay. "I thought Woolsey was supposed to fix things with the IOA!"

"I think he's working on it, Rodney - and so are a few other people," Sheppard said, with a glance at the General. "We can cross that bridge when we come to it. So what do you say we focus on the task at hand, and leave the politics to people higher up the ladder?"

"Hmpf. The perils of command," said Landry, with a satirical huff of laughter. "Speaking of which, I have a conference call with General O'Neill in ten minutes," he went on, getting to his feet. Sheppard and Mitchell rose as well. "Colonels, prep your teams to go offworld tomorrow. Let's see if P7T-943 holds the answer to at least one of our problems."

*****

"You can't be serious, Jack!" General Landry exclaimed.

"No, no - I really can. Sometimes. In fact, I'm being serious now. Which proves that I can. Be serious, that is." There was a telltale whirr on the other side of the telephone line that suggested O'Neill was playing with his yo-yo.

"There's no way you'll be able to swing the support you'll need from the IOA," Landry said.

"We've got someone on our side who thinks we can," Jack responded, sounding inordinately cheerful. "He promised to pull some strings."

"You mean..."

"Richard and I had a chat with the President today. So I have some good news... and more good news."

*****


	8. Chapter 8

"So they've salvaged the Ancient Weapons Platform from Area 51?" Daniel asked, zipping up his Tac vest as he spoke.

"Yes, apparently they did," said Rodney. He opened one of the utility pockets on his own vest and slid a Snickers bar into it. "Also, the IOA has approved the idea of an Alpha site in the Pegasus Galaxy. Woolsey is walking around looking insufferably smug."

"You don't seem all that pleased," Daniel commented.

"Half my team has put in applications to be posted to the Alpha site!" Rodney complained, with a scowl of annoyance.

"Ah. In case Atlantis has to remain on Earth," said Daniel.

"Oh, please. There's no excuse for that, now that we've recovered the Weapons Platform. Not to mention that we now have four Daedalus-class ships and dozens of F-302s for planetary defence."

"Still, with depleted ZPMs, Atlantis isn't going anywhere at the moment," Daniel pointed out.

"I'm working on it!" said Rodney, waspishly. "Besides, isn't this mission supposed to be for that very reason? So we can find the Holy Grail - no pun intended - and solve all our energy problems?"

"So, no pressure, then," said Daniel, collecting his P90 from the waiting airman with a smile of thanks.

Colonel Mitchell leaned into the room. "Would you two get a move on? This Ancient shipyard ain't going to find itself, you know." He walked off, whistling cheerfully.

"Ha, ha. Find itself. That doesn't even make any sense," Rodney grumbled. "He's worse than John."

"Rodney!" Colonel Sheppard called impatiently from down the hallway. "Don't make me come over there and get you."

"On my way!" Rodney yelled back, and then continued in a normal speaking voice. "Does the Air Force make them take a course or something? The Anti-Dale Carnegie. 'How to annoy friends and intimidate people.'"

"I think it's an innate talent," Daniel said. "And by the way, coming from you, that is a tad ironic, Rodney."

"I'm not annoying, I'm witty. It's all part of my unique charm."

"Mm-yes. It's certainly unique, whatever it is."

*****

"Are you sure this is the right area?" Sheppard said, turning the jumper to circle the area again. Below them, all that was visible was an unbroken expanse of grassy plain. "Because I don't see any signs that there were ever any Ancient buildings here."

They had come through the Stargate on P7T-943, and were doing an aerial survey of the planet. It was a pleasant-appearing place, with one of its twin moons still visible in the clear mid-morning sky.

"Yes, the coordinates in the database were pretty clear. This has to be it! I don't understand," Rodney said.

"What about energy emissions? Are you picking up anything on the scanner?" asked Mitchell.

"No, we're not reading any anomalous energy sources in this area. Or for that matter, anywhere on the planet surface, so far," said Sam, leaning over McKay's shoulder to confirm the data on her own scanner.

"No life signs, either," Rodney added.

"Oh no, not another wild moose chase," sighed Vala.

"Goose, not moose," Daniel corrected absently. "Maybe the site was abandoned and then buried over the centuries," he mused. "I mean, it has been thousands of years. We should land and do a surface survey on foot, see if we can find any traces at ground level."

"Sounds like a plan," Sheppard agreed, and brought the jumper down in a shallow glide.

"How do you want to do this, Jackson?" Mitchell asked.

Kneeling down, Daniel spread out a map flat on the ground. "Look, we're here," he said, pointing to a spot on the sheet. "According to the coordinates in the Ancient database on the greenhouse planet, the shipyard's outer boundary should be approximately a hundred meters to our right. I'd like us to each do a transect - follow a sampling line - over the target area. Like this," he said, drawing lines north-south and west-east on the map. "Walk slowly, look closely at the ground for any traces that may indicate signs of habitation. I have a magnetometer, so I can survey for building remains. But it'll only detect distortions up to a meter in depth, so if there's anything deeper than that, we'll need more sensitive equipment."

"As fun as it sounds, tramping around for hours peering at dirt, there must be a faster way to do this. Didn't you tell me that archaeologists use ground penetrating radar to map underground buildings? That's what we did in Glastonbury, isn't it?" said Vala.

"Yes, we used the Odyssey's Asgard sensors, they're more sensitive than conventional equipment," Daniel said, looking up at her. "But in case you haven't noticed, the Odyssey's not here."

"We could rig our scanners to act as hand-held GPRs," Sam offered. "It wouldn't take too long."

"Exactly," said Vala, looking down her nose at Daniel.

"Right! They wouldn't be as effective as the ship's sensors, but it'll be a lot more effective than just relying on the naked human eye," Rodney said.

"Good thinking. While you geniuses are doing that, the rest of us can just mosey on over, scope out the lay of the land," Mitchell said, and started off in the direction of the site Daniel had pointed out on the map. When no one else immediately reacted, he paused, looked over his shoulder and added, "Nice day for a walk."

Daniel rolled his eyes, but got to his feet and walked over to join the SG-1 leader, followed by Teal'c, Ronon, Teyla and Sheppard. Vala stayed with Sam and Rodney to fiddle with their handheld scanners.

A sea of grass stretched out before them, ruffling in their wake like placid water. There were no trees in sight, nor any dips or rises to interrupt the uncannily flat landscape, just miles of green-covered plain in every direction. As they approached the target coordinates, Daniel squinted at his hand-held magnetometer with intense interest. He moved slightly ahead of the rest of the group.

Mitchell alternated between looking around, down at the ground, and keeping a vigilant eye on the archeologist. He knew from experience that a steadying hand might be needed if Daniel got too absorbed in his readings and forgot to watch where he was stepping. So he was understandably startled when between one moment and the next, Daniel simply vanished from view.

After a quick glance downward make sure he hadn't just tripped, he barked, "Jackson!"

"Yeah?" came a disembodied voice, sounding perfectly normal, if perfunctory. The rest of the group stopped right in their tracks, looking stunned. There was nothing ahead of them but empty grassland. "Wow," said Daniel, still invisible, apparently a few feet ahead of them, from the sound of it. "This is amazing."

Mitchell went forward cautiously, his P90 extended before him. After a few steps, the barrel of his gun disappeared, seemingly into thin air. He paused, took another two steps forward, and found himself standing on the edge of a gleaming metallic platform, with Daniel a little way ahead of him. Before them rose a fairyland vision of graceful tapering towers around a vaulted geometric dome, the architecture unmistakably similar in style to the soaring spires of Atlantis. "Now, see, that's what I'm talking about!" He turned around and called to the rest of the group, who were still frozen, staring in the direction of the two invisible men. "Come on in, folks. Water's fine."

In a few minutes, they were all inside the illusion, looking around in wonder at the beautiful building rising incongruously out of the grass as if it had somehow grown there.

"Whoa!" exclaimed McKay. "That's not just a cloak, it's some sort of artificial mirage, designed to mimic the local landscape."

"You think this is it? The shipyard? Sure beats Norfolk," Sheppard said.

"It's definitely Ancient, whatever it is," Daniel said, a look of elation mixed with profound and eager curiosity spreading over his face.

Vala looked at him, then at McKay, who wore an almost identical expression, and nudged Teyla. "I think they're actually salivating," she whispered.

"Can't blame them," said Sam, who was close enough to catch the comment. "I have to admit I might be drooling a little bit myself."

"Well, then. Onward, intrepid explorers," said Mitchell, grinning broadly. "Let's go find ourselves some Ancient artifacts."

*****

As they crossed the arched doorway into the building, lights appeared, spiralling around from the floor up to the walls, illuminating a high-ceilinged space. The wall directly ahead of them grew transparent: it became obvious that this room was really a wide, roofed passage that ran all the way around a large octogonal central chamber, which was at least a quarter mile in diameter. Looking up, the domed ceiling looked as if it was free floating over the chamber, anchored by nothing substantial. A closer examination revealed translucent columns supporting it, arching up from the walls and and tapering into narrow ribs that met in the center of the dome. A hollow, half-constructed metallic frame stood in the space in the middle of the floor, held up on splay-footed clamps. Various robotic-looking cranes were arched over it, suspended in mid-action.

"That has to be the skeleton of a ship," Sam said, her excitement obvious.

"Too small to be Aurora-class," Sheppard noted.

"Oh, boo-hoo. It's still an Ancient ship, John! It's cool!" McKay said.

"Look at this!" The exclamation came from Daniel, who had found a console and was studying a display scrolling up one of the transparent wall panels. "There must be a whole library in here!"

"This is promising," said Vala. "This place must be full of fascinating souvenirs."

"She's right. For one thing, to be operational after all this time, it's got to be drawing power from some place," Mitchell said.

"You are suggesting that there is a Zero Point Module somewhere in this facility," said Teal'c, tilting his head contemplatively.

"It's a thought."

"Hey, over here," Ronon said, his voice coming over the radio. He had moved off to explore, and was in one of the outer corners, standing atop a flight of stairs leading into an unseen wing of the building.

Sheppard, Teyla and Mitchell went over to join him. "Would you look at that. I think my birthday came early this year," Mitchell said, a look of sheer bliss spreading over his face, as he contemplated the fifty-odd puddle jumpers gleaming invitingly from their parking positions in the hangar in front of him. "I am so going to get me one of those!"

*****


End file.
